


Family History

by WestwardGlance



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Framework Narartive, Happy Ending, Humor, Romance, short story collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-29 13:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15074411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WestwardGlance/pseuds/WestwardGlance
Summary: Years after the fall of the Empire, Jacen Syndulla makes the mistake of asking for first date advice from his mother and Sabine. The two women recount the complicated and awkward history of Sabine and Ezra's many not-dates. This may not have been the advice he was looking for, but he will learn a thing or two about his family history...A collection of short stories set through Star Wars Rebels and Beyond.Canon Compliant.Companion to Guardian of Lothal





	1. New Kinds of Caf

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so there's a bit of a long story behind this piece. Having finished up Vigil of Malachor and not yet knowing what to write, ddaulton94 suggested I should write a date fic.
> 
> "A date fic?" I say. "What's that?"
> 
> "It's where two characters go on a date. Oh and West. Don't overthink it. Or overbake it. I know how you tend to write. Just a nice, simple date fic."
> 
> Of course, if he TELLS me not to overbake it, I'm going to overbake it.
> 
> Challenge accepted ddaulton94. Challenge accepted.
> 
> So yeah it's not one date fic. It's like seven (sort of), with a framework narrative to support it that's set WAY in the future. Also, the framework narrative is present tense because clearly, I hate myself.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this, I was really pleased with how such a simple prompt turned into something I'm really proud of. It also stretched me into some new genres, including Cringe Humor. (I'm so sorry Wedge Antilles, I will never forgive myself...)
> 
> WestwardGlance

Hera stands out on the plains of Lothal. She closes her eyes and feels the wind on her lekku, content to simply stand and wait for her son, to wait for Jacen. He's coming home today for a week. The academy has a break in its current session, and he'll be back at the homestead. She's made sure the rest of her family have cleared some time to spend together.

Of course, Ezra and Sabine are never far; they still live in the old tower at the center of the homestead. Before finally retiring, Rhyder had gifted the tower and the surrounding four hundred or so square klicks to Ezra and his descendants when he had returned nearly nine years ago. That was the start of the homestead.

Sabine has been here for longer than that. She's been on the land for over seventeen years at this point, save for the time she was looking for Ezra. Shortly after Ezra returned, Hera had retired from the New Republic military, and she had had a comfortable house built for her and Jacen not far from the tower.

From that point, the scattered remnants of her family slowly returned to Lothal. Rex and Wolfe came back first, now quite old. Ahsoka had found a geneticist to stave off their rapid aging years ago, but the damage was already mostly done. Rex was happy to get a few more years, and even more pleased to retire with one of his oldest friends. They spend most of their days reminiscing about old times and generally being a lovable nuisance in the way that only very old men could.

And Ahoska? Well, she stops by occasionally, though she never seemed to stay in one place long. Ezra supposedly knows more about here travels, but he doesn't say much about them.

Zeb and Kallus had been next. They had done a good bit of work on Lira-san, but Kallus had eventually grown restless and wanted to have a part in the healing of Lothal as well. Hera had chided Zeb for not returning with a wife, but Zeb just chuckled and said that the only girl for him had died years ago on Lasan. He was happy to serve as the family guardian.

And as for Alexandr Kallus? He is a servant of the people and spends his time righting the wrongs he had helped commit. A year or so after he returned, he tracked down the late Minister Maketh Tua's family to apologize for the role he had had in her death. They were forgiving, like any true family of Lothal. It turned out that Maketh Tua had several sisters, and, in a strange twist of fate, one of them took an immediate fancy to the ex-Imperial. It took two years for her to convince him to forgive himself, after which they were happily married. Hera had insisted they build a home on their growing homestead.

Of course, Ezra and Sabine are doing their part to add to the homesteads population. Sabine is pregnant right now and just starting to show with what she insists is going to be the last Wren-Bridger added to the family. Hera loves the grandkids, as she calls them, but secretly wishes they had come sooner when Jacen was younger.

Hera smiles and looks around the grasslands, content at their little community, clustered around Ezra's tower. She wishes Kanan were here, but seventeen years has taken away that particular hurt. Kanan was now a happy memory to her, and his sacrifice was remembered and honored not just by her family, but by the people of Lothal. A memorial stands where the old fuel depot used to be.

Hera sees a speeder bike racing across the plains. Jacen. She can see that startling shock of green hair even from this distance. He's pushing the speeder past its safe top speed, as usual. She does her best not to worry about him. After all, his daredevil piloting streak comes from her. And while he doesn't seem to have inherited Kanan's force sensitivity, Hera can't help but wonder sometimes; his reflexes seem impossibly fast.

He pulls up to a stop, and the seventeen-year-old Human/Twi-lek hybrid gets off the bike. "Hey mom!" he says confidently "You know I'll still find my way home if you're not out here waiting for me right?"

Hera chuckles. "Oh I don't know about that, even a young man like you still needs his mom." She wraps him in a hug and runs a hand through his hair. He hates it, but she can't help it; it reminds her of Kanan.

Jacen laughs and pulls out of her embrace. "Oh come on, you're always  _so_  sappy."

Hera cocks an eyebrow, planting a hand on her hip. It's her signature look and never fails to get it's point across. "Jacen Syndulla I have every right to be sappy and dote upon you, and I will until I'm old, wrinkled, and the color of a ruppa pear left too long in the sun."

"Fine, fine, I know I'm not winning this one. Let's go inside. You've got the rest of the family coming over tonight I'm guessing?" They walk towards the home. He dutifully opens the door for his mother.

"Later yes, but Sabine is already here to help with the cooking." They enter the house. Jacen carries his bag to his room while Hera goes to the kitchen to check on Sabine.

"Oh, is he here already?" the Mandalorian woman asks. Most people don't recognize her as Mandalorian these days. She only puts on her armor for special occasions, but her long flowing hair still changes with the season. Right now it's coral and purple.

Hera nods, "He just ran to his room he'll be..."

"Hey, Aunt Sabine! Love the hair, but I miss the green!" Jacen says it with that touch of swagger. He comes in and hugs his aunt.

Sabine obliges but scolds him with a laugh. "Look, kid, green's a good look, and we've both proved that, but I'm not a one color kind of girl. The times change, and so does my hair."

Jacen just laughs. "Nah, green never goes out of style. It may have even gotten me a date tomorrow."

Hera has just started chopping a meiloorun but stops short when she hears this. "Woah, back that up kiddo. What's this about a date?" She's smiling, but a part of her wants to scream no and beg Jacen not to grow up.

"Umm... well she's uh..." Suddenly Jacen is bashful. Once he had been a shy kid. His unusual looks had gotten a lot of stares when he was younger, and he had been self-conscious about his ears and hair. Human/Twi-lek hybrids are rare. In the last couple years though, he's started to grow into his features and started to remind everyone of Kanan. Since then he's been a confident and bold young man. Leave it to a woman, though, to steal the courage of a man, Hera thinks to herself. She knows she did that to Kanan.

Sabine passes by him and elbows him in the ribs. "You can start by telling us her name."

Jacen laughs. "Right I guess that's a good start. Her name's Celesta, human, same academic year as me. We've been friends for awhile now and, well it just seemed that... I can't believe I'm having this conversation with my mom and aunt."

Both women laugh. "No need to be bashful," Sabine says, checking on a pot simmering on a stove. "Trust me; we're rooting for you."

"Well..." Hera says, drawing the word out. "We're probably rooting for you. I mean if she's the right kind of girl. I have high expectations you know; not just any girl gets to date my only son."

Jacen rolls his eyes at his mother. "You'll like her mom I promise."

"Yeah, well we'll see about that."

Sabine laughs; she is clearly enjoying giving Jacen a hard time. "Relax, Jacen, you know we're not serious. So what's the plan for the date? Where are you taking Celesta?"

He pauses. "I don't... I haven't figured that out yet."

"Well, why not? I thought you said it was tomorrow?" Hera asks incredulously.

"I don't know," he says defensively. "I'm new at this. First date I've been on, okay?"

"Really? With those good looks?" Sabine asks, winking at her nephew.

"Yeah I've had to beat them off with a stun-club," Jacen says, sarcastically.

Hera laughs and pats his arm. "That's my boy."

Jacen looks bashful again. "So yeah first date and I'm not sure what to do about it yet..."

"I can recommend you a couple of good places to eat in Capitol City," Sabine says thoughtfully. "Know what kind of food she likes. If she's into seafood, there's a Mon Cala place that opened recently. Ezra and I liked it."

Jacen shrugs. "I don't know, to be honest."

Hera shakes her head at her son. "Better to avoid the seafood then. Maybe Alderaanian? That stuffs everywhere nowadays, and everyone I know seems to like it." It was indeed ubiquitous now that Alderaan was gone. Famous for its philosophy and art, now it was also famous for its cuisine.

"You know Alderaanian isn't a bad idea. Thanks..." His sentence trails off.

The women continue what they're doing while Jacen just stands there looking lost.

Finally, Sabine steps back over to him. "Okay two things. If you're just going to stand there, you can help. Here chop these roots. I needed them in the pot five minutes ago if they're going to be tender. Second, you look like you're expecting something. Looking for more advice?"

Jacen blushes a little, probably still finding it awkward to talk about this with his mother and aunt. "Well, maybe I guess. I don't even really know what to do on a date."

Hera has a thought and almost manages not to say it out loud. She fails. "Well I know what you're not going to do," she says with just a hint of mischievousness.

"Mom! No. Just stop, please!" Jacen protests loudly. The women both chuckle. Jacen tries to compose himself. "I'm here opening my heart to you guys, and all I get are jokes," he pouts.

"You know I'm teasing. What do you want to know?" Hera says. Maybe that one had been a joke too far.

"Well, what did you and dad do on your first date? How about that."

Hera pauses and thinks back. "You know, I don't think we ever really had a first date. Our lives weren't exactly peaceful back then."

"Yeah, yeah I know, the Empire," Jacen says. "What about you and Ezra, Sabine? How about your first date. What did you guys do?"

Sabine stirs her pot one more time, then pauses, thoughtful. "Well our early years together were mostly busy with the Empire and the Rebellion too, but I guess you could say we had a couple of first dates."

Jacen raises an eyebrow, a spitting image of his mother's famed expression. "How does that even make sense? How can you have more than one first date?"

Hera laughs. "Your aunt and uncle's courtship was a little less than... What's the word here? Traditional."

"Yeah, I've heard some of that story before," Jacen says. "What's that got to do with more than one first date? You know what nevermind. Just tell me about your  _first_ first date. Knowing the two of you, it's probably a story worth hearing."

Sabine pauses for a minute to collect her thoughts. "Okay, so this would be... what twenty-one or so years ago now? Here on Lothal...

* * *

_**New Kinds of Caf** _

Everyone on the Ghost knew that Hera Syndulla had a breaking point, and it was the duty of every member of the crew to make sure that she never, ever crossed that point. Kanan was the master of this skill. Hera would never admit it, but the Jedi knew exactly how to push her buttons to either calm or provoke her at his leisure. Much to everyone else's chagrin, Kanan used this power for evil as much as he did for good.

And of course, even he would occasionally miscalculate and have an incident on his hands. Whenever the shouting started between Specter One and Specter Two, the other crew members knew to get lost fast or get saddled with extra chores. Even chopper avoided Hera when this happened.

One afternoon Hera hit such a breaking point. It started innocently enough. It was a light duty day, a day between missions with minimal chores. Things began to go wrong when Chopper wasn't assigned enough duties and went to help Zeb clean the exhaust manifolds on the sublight drives. How the situation degenerated into Chopper being chased around the Ghost by the irate Lasat, Hera didn't know or care. She did know that when the two nerf-herders plowed into the common room, Zeb was unable to correct course fast enough and bumped into Hera, causing her to spill her cup of caf on herself.

"Oh, Karabast! Sorry Hera, Chopper shocked me and I..."

"I don't want to hear it," Hera said acidly. "Zeb, new cup of Caf while I get changed. Chopper. Go to your charging station. Now."

Chopper responded with a short but very rude grunt. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Zeb, turn him off. I'll deal with the rustbucket later."

Zeb chuckled as he reached past Chopper's flailing manipulators and turned off the surly droid. "Heh. That felt good."

"Zeb. Caf."

"Right, sorry."

There was peace on the Ghost for the next hour. Hera was nearly finished with her diagnostics when Kanan entered the cockpit and sat next to her in the copilot's seat. "You and Ezra already finished cleaning the carbon scoring off the hull?" Hera said eyebrow raised.

"Finished half an hour ago," Kanan said smoothly, propping his feet up on the console.

Hera pushed his feet down, and he grunted as he fell forward. She hated when he did that. "I don't know. Seems pretty fast. Are you sure you guys did a good job? If I get out there and it's only half done I'm not..."

"Hey, I happen to know the pilot of the Ghost, and she's not bad. There wasn't much scoring to scrape off this time, because  _you_  don't get hit by Tie Fighters. Much."

Hera rolled her eyes. "Okay, first you're right. Except she's an amazing pilot. And second, flattery is only going to get you thrown out of the cockpit."

"Wow, not sure I want to be in the cockpit anyway if this the kind of mood you're in. What's got you in a funk?" Kanan asked with a chuckle. The grin disappeared when he saw Hera's icy glare. "Yeah, I'll be seeing myself out." He left the cockpit. He'd been hoping to spend some time with Hera, but it didn't really seem worth it today. Kanan knew when he'd just end up getting burned. In fact, he decided it was better to not be on the Ghost at all, and decided to meditate out on Lothal's plains.

On his way out Kanan passed Ezra and Sabine in the cargo hold. They had Ezra's speeder bike pulled apart trying to fix something. At the moment they were arguing. Kanan rolled his eyes. Sabine was probably right if they were arguing over the bike and he thought about stating the obvious to the two youngest members of the crew, but then realized that it wasn't worth getting pulled into. Still, it wouldn't hurt to give them a bit of friendly advice.

"Hey, watch out, Hera's in one of her moods."

Ezra and Sabine stopped arguing and looked at Kanan. Then Sabine laughed. "What's the matter? Did she throw you out of the cockpit for trying to put the smooth moves on her?"

Kanan frowned. "No, even I know better than to try and put smooth moves on Hera today. Seriously. Keep your distance."

"Yeah, okay, we got it, Kanan," Ezra said impatiently, then turned back to Sabine. "I'm telling you it's that relay right there that's shorting and causing the steering to give out."

"No, that's a fuel line, you moof milker. It doesn't even have anything to do with the steering," Sabine countered quickly.

Kanan left them to their argument. He'd done his duty and warned them. It didn't matter to him if they ignored his good advice. He walked down the ramp of the Ghost to freedom. And to safety.

* * *

An hour later Ezra and Sabine made their fatal mistake. They had finished fixing Ezra's speeder. Sabine had been right about how to fix it, naturally, and now they were trying to get it back together without breaking anything else. Ezra's pride was hurt, but he had managed to swallow it. An afternoon spent with Sabine was worth the hurt ego.

Finally, they put the last panel back on the speeder. Sabine's mood had turned sour. "Kid, if you'd just listened to me we would have been finished with this an hour ago. I was hoping we would be able to head out to you know where today, but there's no way that's happening now."

Ezra knew she was referencing the Tie Fighter he and Zeb had stolen. Sabine had naturally been overjoyed when he'd gifted it to her to paint, and he'd felt that had been a turning point in their relationship. Also, he'd tried to lay off the obnoxious flirting. Zeb had cornered him and had somehow managed to beg and threaten him at the same time into backing off. Apparently, everyone was sick of it. Since then he and Sabine had been on much better terms.

And yet here she was calling him Kid again. He followed her up the ladder towards the crew quarters. "Sorry, I thought you weren't calling me Kid anymore."

"Hmm, well if you act like it and the name fits, I'm going to use it.  _Kid_." She added the last with deliberate emphasis and rolled her eyes.

Ezra could feel his face turning red. Sabine was walking towards her room. He would need a comeback fast if he were going to get it out before she disappeared into her room. "Yeah well if you weren't such a stuck up...  _Mando-girl_..." he shouted at her. It was lame, and he knew it the moment of it came out of its mouth.

Sabine paused, laughed and then turned around to face him. She was long past annoyed now and had progressed straight to angry. She raised her voice. "First of all if you think that was insulting, you're kidding only yourself. I'm a Mandalorian. I'm a girl. I  _am_  a Mando-girl. Second," she said stabbing a finger at his chest for effect, "I'm sorry if I hurt your oh so delicate male pride. But if you'd just try growing up..."

"That's it. Both of you. Out now. Off the ship." Hera was coming from the cockpit, and Ezra could see that she was mad. Not just ordinary mad; more like frighten-off-a-rancor mad. Everything from her posture to the look on her face said  _dangerous predator moving in for the kill._

Ezra looked at Sabine. She looked back at him. A quiet moment passed between them that seemed to stretch out for eternity. Ezra thought it was a moment of solidarity, a certain comradery in knowing that there was no hope for them. Kanan had warned them, and not even Kanan could save them now. Not that he would anyway. He and Hera would probably just laugh about the fate of the doomed younger Specters after she cooled off and told him about it later.

"Okay, Okay!" Ezra said raising his palms up. "We'll just go... somewhere, and I don't know, do something. Come on Sabine."

"Right... Right behind you." Sabine said sheepishly.

They both turned to flee. If they could just get off the ship before Hera got more specific with her instructions they might still salvage the afternoon. Ezra did not want a repeat of the Meiloorun Incident, as he and Zeb had taken to calling it. Maybe they'de go hang out at their Tie Fighter for a while after all and...

"Oh no, you don't. Supply run. Head into town."

Sabine groaned, then frowned. "Hera, the whole crew, did a supply run yesterday, we're stocked."

Hera smirked. "I'll think of something we forgot yesterday and comm you. Just go." She practically chased the two down the ladder to the hold before retreating to the cockpit.

Ezra and Sabine climbed down the ladder. "Well that could have gone worse," Sabine said thoughtfully. "At least we're stocked up; she could have given us an entire supply run."

"Yeah, we got lucky. Hey, let's take my bike and see how the steering is," Ezra said suddenly looking forward to the trip. A chance to spend the afternoon with Sabine in town with no major responsibilities seemed pretty good to him. And she'd thankfully seemed to have forgotten their previous argument.

Sabine looked at the bike for a moment then smiled slyly. "Sure thing. But I'm driving."

Ezra's face fell. "Hey what? Why? It's my bike!"

"Look, Ezra, we both know that I'm the better pilot and if something is still wrong, you're going to need my expertise to fix it."

Ezra raised a finger and opened his mouth to reply and then paused. "Okay, you're not wrong. Let's go before Hera gets more creative with her punishment."

"Ezra Bridger, you just read my mind," Sabine said mounting the bike.

Ezra chuckled as he hopped onto the back. "That's a first. Take it easy and try not to throw me; I know we put handholds on this thing, but this wasn't exactly designed for... YEAaaaghhh!" he shouted as Sabine sped out of the Ghost down the ramp and across the prairies of Lothal.

* * *

After twenty minutes of Ezra fearing for his life, they approached the outskirts of town and parked the bike behind a building. "Huh," Ezra said patting his chest and then his waist to make sure everything was still attached where it should be. "I'm still alive."

"Of course you are," Sabine rolled her eyes, "I was driving. If you were driving, we'd be a grease smear out on the plains."

"Hey, I'm not that bad a driver," he leaned against the bike. "Anyway, has Hera tried to comm you yet?"

Sabine checked her wrist. "No doesn't look like it. Do you think I should check with her or should we just leave her be and hope she forgets."

"Leave it. I don't want her getting any funny ideas. No wild bantha chases. No Meiloorun Incidents."

"Hmm, and I was really hoping we could work on our Tie Fighter today."

Ezra noticed that she said our Tie Fighter but knew better than to comment, not wanting to compromise the friendship he'd been carefully building with the Mandalorian. He was still head over heels for Sabine. How could he not be? She was smart, talented, made killer art, and was gorgeous to top it off. Unfortunately, it had taken him a few months to realize that the older girl appeared to be completely immune to his charms.

This naturally had been very discouraging until Zeb had given him some good advice. "Have you tried being her friend?" Zeb had grunted out, intent on getting Ezra out of his hair.

So Ezra had stopped with the obnoxious flirting and, weirdly enough, he and Sabine were getting along well these days. Sure they fought a bit, but Ezra was pretty sure that Sabine enjoyed a good fight as much as he did. He even made sure that she usually got the last word in.

"Hey, Ezra you there...?" Sabine asked waving a hand in front of his face.

He jumped, hoping he hadn't been staring or anything else awkward. "Sorry! Sorry, just lost in thought."

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Over what?"

"Ummm..." What had they been talking about? Oh right, the Tie Fighter. "Eh, I was just thinking about how much I had hoped to work on the Tie Fighter today too. Pity. Nice day out. Now we're stuck... What are we doing, anyway...?"

Sabine sighed and shrugged. "I don't even know. I think it was just an excuse to get rid of us. Come on let's head into town." She put her helmet back on. "We'll find something to do."

They left the speeder and walked into town on one of the roads. A collection of a couple hundred low dusty buildings, Town 12 was one of numerous nearly identical towns dotting the continent around Capitol City. Serving, mostly to support the farmers and mining in their region, Town 12 had far more services than you would expect from a settlement so small. And a very boring name.

"You'd think that the locals would have given their town an actual name," Sabine said gesturing to the welcome sign as they walked down the main road.

Ezra shrugged. Some of the towns renamed themselves after they were settled. Some didn't. You grow up calling a place Town 12, and it makes it hard to start calling it something else."

"I guess," Sabine said slowly. "Seems kind of a Lothalian thing though. Laid back like everything else around here.

"Everybody except the Empire," Ezra said nodding towards a couple of stormtroopers a block further down the street. "That's something we don't need. Come on." They redirected down a side street and wandered a few blocks further before spotting another imperial patrol, this one larger and walking towards them.

"I bet Hera didn't know she was going to get us killed when she sent us on a fake supply run," Sabine hissed as she and Ezra turned and went back up the way they went.

"It's fine, relax. These guys'll be easy to avoid," Ezra said, confident. "The Lothal garrison isn't exactly known for their cunning."

"Yeah, but they're getting better, and there's only two of us," Sabine said carefully.

"We'll be fine," Ezra said. Suddenly another patrol rounded the corner in front of them and began walking towards them. They were now trapped between two patrols. "Huh, actually we should probably get off the street. Your armor is a little too easy to recognize for my taste."

"Hey, my armor is...!" Sabine started to retort.

"Yes, it's amazing. I agree." Ezra cut her off. "In here." He directed her into a building that he was familiar with. "Lucky for us we just happened to be passing in front of the best cafe in town. Get you a drink?"

Sabine stood inside the threshold of the building, sighed and then joined Ezra. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you planned this, Ezra Bridger."

"What? The Imperial patrols?" he asked confused.

Sabine shook her head and pulled her helmet off. "No, where we are. The... Nevermind. Let's go sit down. Better this than walking around town waiting for Hera to forgive us and say we can come home." She walked past Ezra to one of the dimly lit booths.

Ezra just shrugged and joined her, sitting down across from Sabine. He picked up a menu and glanced at it, but he already knew what he was going to get. This place was famous for one thing and one thing alone. Ezra glanced over the menu at Sabine. She was busy looking at the drinks and didn't notice him looking at her. He cleared his throat, reached out his hand, and slowly pushed her menu down to the table. "Allow me, Sabine. I know what you want," he said smiling.

Apparently his grin a was a little too self-assured for Sabine's taste, and her eyes narrowed icily. "Oh really now? Now you're going to order my drink for me?"

"I..." He stopped. That hadn't come out right. "What I meant was, can I make a recommendation? This place is famous locally because they actually import chocolate." He gestured for effect.

Sabine stared at him. "Am I supposed to know what that is?"

"Oh come on? You've never heard of chocolate? It's a sweet and slightly bitter... Something. Look, I don't know what it is, but they make it into a drink. They even have one drink where they mix it into caf. Knowing how much you need your caf in the mornings..." Sabine's eyes narrowed again, and Ezra realized his mistake, but he kept going, "I'm pretty sure you're going to love it."

Sabine let out a sigh and looked down at the menu. "Fine, I'll try it and... Karabast, that's an expensive drink. I'm not paying that much for a drink."

"Well, they do have to import it." Ezra looked at the price himself and winced. It was easily three times the price of any other drink on the menu. "Okay look. I'll pay for it. I know you're going to like it and..."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Ezra I'm not going to let you pay for my drink like this is some sort of date."

"I never said it was," Ezra winced "You're the one that brought that up. Trust me I know that's not happening anytime soon."

"Or ever." Sabine corrected.

Ezra's heart fell a little when she said that but he noticed she was smirking playfully, so he decided not to take it personally. He took a deep breath and barely managed not to give a retort.

"Hmm. Color me surprised." Sabine said.

"What?"

"I was expecting you to take the bait and come back with a corny pickup line."

Ezra frowned at her. "I've been trying to do better about that. I know I've been a bit of a jerk sometimes. Why? Were you trying to bait me?"

Sabine turned a little red and looked away. "I'm sorry. You have been a lot better about that lately. Was just testing you I guess. I shouldn't have done that." They were both quiet for a minute before Sabine added. "I'll let you buy me the drink."

Ezra's face brightened. "Oh good! I know you're going to love it!"

Sabine laughed lightly. "I had better, with how much it's about to cost you."

The waitress, a female Quarren walked up, and Ezra proudly ordered two Choco-cafs. The waitress nodded and said "Two Choco-cafs. One for you and one for your date." She turned away before Ezra could protest.

Sabine just laughed. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She looked at her wrist comm again. "At this point, I don't expect to hear back from Hera. She was just getting rid of us. Probably didn't even try to think of anything we'de missed yesterday."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. Could have been out at the Tie Fighter," Ezra grumbled. "Not that... not that this isn't great too, I mean," he quickly corrected.

"Alright. Ezra. You can take a deep breath and relax. I'm sorry I ever used the 'D' word."

"Right. Sorry." Ezra shrugged. Being in close proximity to Sabine in an unusual setting was intimidating.

The waitress returned and gave them their Choco-cafs. "Here's you lovebird's drinks."

Ezra turned red again, and Sabine laughed at him. She grabbed her drink eagerly but stopped short before taking a drink from the straw. "Have you ever had one of these before?"

Ezra shook his head. "If you think I could afford this as a street-rat..."

"That makes sense, I guess. Alright. Let's both try it at the same time. Ready?"

Ezra smiled. "Sure let's do it. 1.."

"2..." Sabine continued

"3!" They both said and took a deep pull from their straws.

Several things happened at once. Ezra frowned clearly disappointed. He'd tried some stolen chocolate once and liked it and was okay on caf, but the combination? Not so much. Sabine's eyes, on the other hand, went wide with some expression Ezra had never seen. Surprise? Euphoria? He wasn't really sure, but it frightened him. He wondered if he had created a monster.

"Kriffing Mythosaurs," Sabine muttered under her breath. "That's good...! What did you say this was again? Chocolate?" She greedily began sucking her Choco-caf down.

Ezra laughed and watched her. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her drop her guard and act so... he wasn't sure what to call it. Undignified? After a minute Sabine seemed to come to herself suddenly. She looked up sheepishly and noticed Ezra had barely touched his. "What's the matter, don't like it?" she asked in disbelief.

"Ehhhh..." he said making a so-so gesture with his hand.

Sabine just laughed and drank more of hers. "Your loss. This is amazing." She thought for a moment. "You know I'm going to be out a lot of credits because of you."

Ezra raised his palms up. "Hey now just because you lack self-control doesn't mean it's my fault."

Sabine pointed a finger at Ezra's chest. "Look here, Loth-rat. I think you know me well enough to know that I indulge in very few things. One of those is explosives. Every wanted poster with my face on it attests to that. The other is caf. You know I have a weakness there, so if this turns into an expensive addiction, it's your fault."

Ezra laughed. "Told you that you'd like it," he winked.

Sabine regarded him for a moment, possibly wondering if she was annoyed by the wink, then shrugged. "You weren't wrong."

They sat in silence as Sabine finished her drink. She stared at it disappointingly for a moment, then glanced at Ezra's mostly full glass. Ezra saw this and thought about offering it to her to finish, but then thought it would be more entertaining to wait and see if she would ask for it. She was clearly struggling with how to do so politely, finally biting her lower lip in frustration.

Ezra couldn't take it anymore and laughed out loud. He put a hand on the bottom of his glass and slowly slid it across the table to the Mandalorian. Sabine looked at the glass, and cooly reached out to slide the drink closer to herself. Ezra could imagine she was doing everything in her power not to just grab the glass from him.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Ezra just laughed again. "Honestly was it that hard just to ask? You were eyeing it like a starving tooka."

Sabine pushed a lock of blue and orange hair back behind her ear. "Look I'm the dignified one between the two of us. I have to keep up appearances at least."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"I will," she said. "Because it's true." She took the second glass much slower, possibly to savor it, knowing it may be a long time before she had another Choco-caf, or possibly because she was wondering if this much caf at once was a good idea. Ezra wondered how much caffeine she had ingested today.

"Only in your dreams, Sabine, I happen to be a prime specimen of dignity and umm..." Ezra drew a blank not really sure where he was going with this particular boast.

Sabine watched him from over her glass. "Go on. I'm waiting to see how this flaming wreck of a sentence ends."

Ezra made a grand gesture with his arms opened his mouth... And nothing came out. They both laughed. "I got nothing," he admitted, and they both laughed again.

Ezra and Sabine ended up staying for another hour. It was getting on towards evening, and Hera still hadn't called them back with further instructions or given them the okay to return to the Ghost, so they ordered a light meal. Sabine insisted on paying for their sandwiches, which incidentally cost a lot less than the Choco-cafs.

They spent the hour laughing, arguing, telling jokes, gossiping about just how serious the relationship between Hera and Kanan was, talking about how loud Zeb snored, and on and on. An outsider looking in would have rolled their eyes and maybe muttered something derogatory about teenagers, never knowing the weight these two carried on a day to day basis. But for just this once, just this evening, they were teenagers.

They paid their tab and left the cafe. The two carefully poked their heads out the door. It was sunset, and there were no stormtroopers visible. "Let's get going," Sabine said. I'd rather be out of town before it's dark. The number of patrols will go up."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Ezra said. They walked silently through town to their speeder without incident. Ezra noticed that Sabine didn't drive quite so recklessly on the way home either. By the time they reached the Ghost the stars were coming out. The worn ramp of the VCX-100 was down, and Hera was silhouetted against the ship's lights.

"Great," Sabine muttered as she slowed to a stop.

Ezra just chuckled. "How bad can it be?"

"Pretty bad," Hera said, her hearing clearly better than Ezra realized. "You bring what I wanted?" Ezra and Sabine froze, glanced at each other, then at Sabine's comm. "I'm kidding," Hera said. "Look I may have gone a little overboard throwing you guys out earlier, but for future reference? No shouting matches in the ship. Alright? This is my home. Our home. We're family. And we don't shout at each other."

"Right... Sorry." Ezra said, genuinely feeling a bit guilty.

"Yeah, we won't do it again," Sabine said slowly.

"Good. Now come in." Hera said gesturing. "I'm sure you're starved; the rest of us already ate."

"We're good," Sabine said shaking her head. "We ate in town when it became clear you weren't going let us come back anytime soon."

Hera laughed as the two younger crewmen pushed the speeder up the ramp into the hold. "I didn't know I was sending you two on a date. Maybe you owe me a thank you." She winked and climbed the ladder.

Ezra's face went red. He'd just spent some of the best time he ever had with Sabine, and he really didn't need Hera ruining it now. "Hey! Hera!" Ezra called after her desperately. "It wasn't a date!"

Hera didn't answer as she left the hold and Sabine just chuckled.

"Hey sorry," Ezra said rubbing the back of his neck. "I'll go make sure she understands that...

"It's fine," Sabine said. "Hera was just trying to get under my skin. You just happened to get caught in the crossfire."

"Oh," he said flatly. He finished securing the speeder bike and stood there awkwardly for a moment not really sure what to say now. He didn't want to leave the hold yet and his perfect evening to be over, but he wasn't sure what he could say that wouldn't just ruin things.

Sabine laughed again. "What's the matter? Loth-cat got your tongue? Since when is Ezra Bridger so quiet."

He thought about this for a moment. "Today was... great really. We fixed my bike together, weathered Hera's wrath, and went into town for a fun evening goofing off at the cafe. I'm glad you're my friend Sabine, and pretty much anything I say would just undermine today."

The smile faded from Sabine's face, and she regarded him seriously. "For the record, Ezra Bridger, today was one of the best not-dates I've ever been on. I'll definitely let you buy me another Choco-caf someday."

The corner of Ezra's mouth turned upward in a sly grin. "Yeah, but only cause they're expensive."

Sabine inclined her head conceding the point. "Okay that's part of it, but sometimes it's good to spend time with a friend, away from..." she gestured around at the Ghost. "All this, if you know what I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean." His courage renewed, Ezra decided to push his luck. "And well maybe someday we can try a real date." The second it came out of his mouth he regretted it and smacked his palm against his forehead. Good going dummy, he thought, that was exactly what you were trying to avoid. "Sorry, my mouth kind of ran away with things before my brain had time to say no..."

Sabine must have been in a good mood after the day because she shrugged. "Make ya a deal. We kick the Empire off Lothal, and we go on a real date to that same cafe."

Ezra smiled that big dumb grin of his and laughed. "Well, I think that's the best I'm going to get so, yeah. You got a deal."

* * *

Later that evening Sabine was about to turn out her light to get some sleep when she heard a light knock on her door. "Sabine you still up?" It was Hera.

"Yeah, come in." She sat on the edge of her bed as the Twi-lek woman came in. "Need something?"

"Oh, nothing. Just apologizing for the day again." she paused and smiled. "And for trying to make it awkward when you came back."

Sabine rolled her eyes. She'd done that a lot today. "It's fine. I knew it was coming. I kinda deserve it for all the grief I give you and Kanan."

"Hmm. Fair enough; maybe you do deserve it," Hera said raising an eyebrow and putting a hand on her hip.

"There is a key difference though," Sabine said coyly.

"What's that?"

"You and Kanan are a couple. Or have been. Or will be. I haven't figured it out yet."

"Or maybe it's none of the above, and none of your business?" Hera said, smiling lightly. She wasn't mad. Hera and Sabine had been around this particular line of conversation at least a hundred times in the last year.

Sabine shrugged. "I'll have my proof one day."

"Maybe. I won't keep you up. I was just making sure you weren't upset with me," Hera said and turned to leave. She paused at the door and turned around "You know what I think?"

"About...?"

"I think you and Ezra may be... more than friends someday.."

Sabine frowned, suddenly annoyed with Hera. "Really, Hera? The kid?"

"I thought you'd stopped calling him that," Hera said, leaning against the door.

"I... had. Er... well should," Sabine said taken back. She did have to stop calling him that.

"You know why?" Hera asked? The corners of her mouth were beginning to tug into a smile.

This unsettled Sabine further. "Because it's a kinda scummy thing to call a friend?"

"Well obviously. But what I was getting at was that he won't always be a kid. One day he's gonna grow up, and I think you'll notice."

Sabine's mouth dropped open. When she realized this, she shut her mouth and scowled. "He'll always be younger than me Hera."

"Let's call it feminine intuition, but I don't know that you'll care in a few years. Goodnight, Sabine." And with that parting shot, Hera turned and left her room.

Sabine sulked for a minute before turning the light off. Hera was out of line here. She was glad to have Ezra as a friend, but if Hera thought Sabine would ever see him as more than that she had been sucking too much vacuum.

And then she remembered she had actually agreed to a date with Ezra, contingent on freeing Lothal. Admittedly this seemed rather unlikely, so she probably wasn't ever going to have to fulfill that end of the bargain. She wasn't sure why she'd done that but seeing the way Ezra had lit up had made it seem worth it. She did enjoy seeing that big dumb grin of his she thought distantly as sleep took her.


	2. Alderaanian Food

Jacen looks at Sabine and frowns. "Wait, that's it? I thought you were telling me about your first date?"

Sabine looks at him. "I just did."

Jacen looks at his aunt, then at his mother. Hera just smiles at him. Jacen looks back at Sabine. "I don't... I don't get it. You said in the story that it wasn't a date. Like wasn't that the whole point?"

Sabine shrugs. "I mean it wasn't a date at the time. But in hindsight, taken with my history with Ezra I kind of consider it a... Precursor to a date. Kind of a first not-date if you will."

"That doesn't even make sense, Sabine." Jacen isn't buying it.

Hera laughs at her son's confusion. "Look we warned you that their courtship wasn't very... normal. They had a few more not-dates, since that's apparently what we're calling them, and then they got married eventually." She paused. "Don't do things like your aunt and uncle dear. I'm not sure I can handle that kind of stress."

Jacen has a strange look on his face. "Trust me. I won't." He looks back at Sabine. "So not-date number one is you two getting in trouble with mom and just being normal teenagers. Do they get any better than this or am I just going to end up disappointed?"

"Hey," Sabine says, checking on her pot of stew one last time before leaving it to simmer. "This is your family history, none of it is disappointing. Alright, next not-date would be what? Garel?"

"Yeah I'm thinking Garel," Hera says then laughs. "That seems appropriate."

"Why's that?" Jacen asks, curious.

"Alderaanian Food," his mother says with a wink.

* * *

_**Alderaanian Food** _

Ezra leaned against the building and stretched his back. "Yup it's official. Hera is trying to kill us."

Sabine rolled her eyes at him. Not that he could see that behind her helmet. It was one of the few disadvantages of wearing a bucket. No one got to see your amazing sarcastic expressions. Or your amazing hair color she thought sadly. "You know if you kept up with your physical combat training as much as you did your Jedi stuff, you might be in better shape."

"Okay, Rex, thank you for the advice," Ezra said sarcastically. "I thought you and Kanan had settled that argument already."

Sabine walked over the wall where Ezra was leaning and slugged his arm. She ignored his dull "ow" and joined him in leaning. "You're right about one thing."

"What's that?" Ezra asked.

"This was a dumb mission."

A few hours ago they had left the Ghost with simple instructions from Hera. Walk to this point. Place small package in a specific dumpster, walk home. A nice, straightforward dead drop. And then Hera gave them the coordinates; they were over twenty klicks away on the side of Garel City. Forty klicks round trip in a day was a long way with duracrete under your boots, especially in a crowded city.

"So can we take a speeder?" Ezra had asked almost immediately.

"No, you can walk because the speeders are being used by others right now," Hera said gruffly.

Ezra wasn't about to give up. "What about public transportation? Can we take a taxi? There's more than enough of those on Garel."

"No, that would leave a record of your movements. You can complete the mission exactly how I prescribed; by walking." Hera had used the  _this_ _conversation is over_ voice, and Ezra had slouched in defeat.

Now about halfway back to the Ghost, they paused for a minute to rest. Sabine was tired too, but her Mandalorian pride wasn't about to admit that to Ezra. He was getting a lot more skilled than he used to be when they first picked him up on Lothal, and she wasn't going to miss a rare opportunity to lord over him. She looked over at Ezra and smirked behind her helmet. Their relationship wasn't subtle, but it was more fun now that he could keep up with her.

"Oh quit whining, we'll be back in another couple hours." She said with a short laugh.

"Yeah in time for Kanan to commandeer me for some sort of Jedi training," he grumbled.

"Ha, right. As if I needed another reminder why I'm glad I'm not you."

He chuckled "You wish you were me alright. Then you could do cool things like this." He opened his right palm, and one of her beloved blasters leaped from her side into his hand.

She cocked her head to the side, "Oh, now you do not touch my Westars without permission." She stalked towards him.

Ezra's eyes went wide realizing he may have gone a little too far. He was saved when Sabine's comm pinged. In truth, she was glad to have been interrupted. Sometimes the threat of force was more useful in Ezra's healthy respect for her in place than the actual application of that force. Sabine pulled her wrist up and hit her comm.

It was Hera. "Hey, I got bad news you two."

"What's that? Everything okay." Ezra asked stepping over to Sabine.

"Yeah probably. Local Imperial garrison seems to be doing a complete sweep of the spaceport area. Our paperwork is in order, but I don't want to risk it. I'm just going to lift off and head out of system for a few hours. I doubt they'll double back to check on a departed ship."

"So what's the bad news, exactly?" Sabine asked slowly. "I was expecting worse."

Hera smiled. "Well, I sent you guys on a rather long walk today, and we'll be gone when you get back. Probably won't come back till 2200 local time." Sabine still didn't see what was so bad. They'd need to find someplace to lay low for a couple of hours, but that was hardly a problem.

Ezra frowned and pouted a little. "Aw, karabast. Zeb was gonna cook tonight. He was going to make some traditional Lasat stuff for us too."

"Yeah, that's the bad part. He's already started and says the ingredients will spoil if he doesn't use them tonight." Hera's face was scrunched in apology. "There  _will_ be leftovers..."

Sabine's heart finally sank a little. Zeb was, weirdly, the best cook on the Ghost, when he could be bothered to put in the effort, and the crew had been looking forward to tonight for a week. "I guess that's that," she said a little more bitterly than she meant to. "Enjoy Zeb's cooking without us." She winced behind her helmet; she hadn't meant to lay the guilt on quite that thickly.

The hologram of Hera sighed. "Look I'm sorry you two, I'll make it up to you. What if... Okay, Tell you what. Where are you guys at?" Sabine looked up at their surroundings and rattled off a rough location. "Okay it's still a ways away, but I know a really good Alderaanian place you guys can go to. My treat."

Ezra's eyes lit up happily. "Hmm. Alderaanian. You ever had Alderaanian Sabine?"

"Not that I can remember, sounds kinda... fancy. You sure Hera?"

"Oh it's good; you guys'll like it. Kanan and I went last week and..."

"Wait you went on a date with Kanan,?" Ezra asked leaning forward. "He didn't tell me about that."

Hera suddenly realized her mistake. "Wait. No, it wasn't a date, it was..."

Sabine laughed. "Caught you, at last, Hera. So how was it? I bet Kanan can be a real  _romantic_  charmer."

Hera's face went completely unreadable, but Ezra knew she wasn't happy. "Alright, I have to go. Some of us have Imperial sweeps to avoid. I'll send you the coordinates to the Alderaanian place. Ezra, step away for a moment. I need to have a quick word with Sabine."

"Umm okay..." Ezra said confused. He obeyed and gave the women some space.

Hera waited till he was gone and then leaned forward and narrowed her eyes mischievously. "You know if it's a date when Kanan and I go there, then it's a date if you and Ezra go there." She cut the comm before Sabine could respond, intent on getting in the last word.

Sabine laughed as Ezra walked back over. "What was that about?" Ezra asked.

"Oh, you know how Hera gets. Always has to have last say. She said something desperate about how if it was a date when she and Kanan went there then it'd be the same for us."

Ezra scrunched his brows. "No actually, I don't think that's how that works."

"I know, right? But that's as good an admission as I think we're going to get out of her about her and Kanan. So what do you say: not-date to Alderaan? Think they'll have Choco-cafs?"

"We'll find out. Lead the way, Mando-girl."

* * *

The Alderaanian restaurant was in one of the nicer parts of Garel City, a couple of klicks from the spaceport where the Ghost was usually docked. It wasn't an upscale restaurant in the truest sense of the word, but to Ezra, it may as well have been.

As they waited for the hostess to seat them, Ezra turned to Sabine. "I can't believe Kanan and Hera came here without us knowing. When did that even happen?"

"Beats me. They're crafty, that's for sure." Sabine looked down at her armor. "I hope they don't get mad about me coming in a bit... overdressed."

Ezra grinned, "I thought you put on your nice clothes today."

Sabine just shrugged. "My armor is my nice clothes, true. Whatever, at least it's better than your stupid orange shirt."

"Hey, I like this shirt. And just so you know, I have four identical ones."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes really, I..." Ezra's mouth dropped open slightly. "Did you think I literally wore the same shirt every day?"

"Maaaaaaybe... Hey! There's the hostess, and she's got us a table let's go!" Sabine said rapidly to end the conversation. Ezra grumbled a little. He wasn't through with this conversation and would probably come back to it later.

They sat in the spacious, well-lit booth. Across the room, a Bith band played, and Ezra tapped his foot along to the catchy tune. He glanced at the menu the hostess had left. "Sooo, Sabine? Do you know anything about Alderaanian food?"

"Not a bit. Always thought it was outside my price range." She glanced at the prices. "Yup, it's outside my price range. Good thing this is on Hera's tab." She flipped the menu to the back. "Oh hey, Choco-caf and... Oooh, entire desserts of chocolate. We're getting dessert." This was a statement and not a request.

The waitress came by, and they ordered their drinks, Sabine naturally ordered her favorite indulgence. Sabine was ready to order her meal and chose some fancy salad with strips of nerf steak and exotic cheeses and fruits.

Ezra looked at the menu for a moment and shrugged. He looked at the waitress, an older human woman, and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going, to be honest here. I don't know what anything on this menu is. Got any recommendations?"

"Oh absolutely!" she said a little too enthusiastically. "Do you have any general food preferences that can help me narrow it down for you?"

"Umm... I grew up on the street," Ezra said candidly. "I like just about anything."

"Oh my. well then..." she said, unsure how she was supposed to respond to such candor. "If I may recommend my favorite dish. Aldera Crown Cakes with the grilled Nerf Fillet and Starblossom Wine Reduction."

Ezra stared at the menu then looked up to the waitress and smiled. "I still have no idea what that is, but I'll take it, and it's going to make me the happiest guy on Garel."

The waitress laughed an nodded. "I'll have those out in a little while."

She turned to leave, but Sabine cleared her throat. "Okay forget the salad; you talked me into the Aldera Crown Cakes too..."

The waitress nodded and changed the order on her datapad and left the two Specters at their booth. Ezra was still smiling. "This is going to be amazing. Remind me to send a thank you note to the Empire for chasing Hera off-world. I wouldn't mind if this happened more often."

Sabine laughed. "Yeah, making Hera feel guilty works in our favor. On another topic, do you have to bring up the raised on the streets thing to literally everyone you meet? Not trying to pick a fight here, but honestly curious."

Ezra looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbed the back of his neck in that old nervous tic of his, and asked carefully, "Do I really do that?"

"Ezra you just told a waitress."

"I did, didn't I?" He said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess it's part of who I am. I mean you're a Mandalorian, and you kinda announce that loudly the to the world everywhere you go."

Sabine looked at him for a moment askance, and then picked up her helmet from the booth beside her and set it on the table. "Yeah, I wear my armor everywhere I go and yeah it's part of me. Mandalore is part of my heritage. It's something to be proud of. So yes, I shout it to the world. But being raised on the streets isn't the same thing. You should be proud of being a son of Lothal, not a street rat."

Ezra stared at her helmet. "I guess I never really thought about it that way."

Sabine continued, "Or you can be proud of what you rose above, that's fine too. But like I said maybe not tell your waitress your sad story every time...?"

Ezra laughed. "Okay, you're probably right. I'll keep that in mind. It was just... who I was for so long. I kind of default back to it sometimes."

"Yeah well, don't sell yourself short."

Ezra looked at Sabine with an eyebrow raised than cocked his biggest dumbest grin. "You know Sabine; if I didn't know any better, I'd think actually cared about me."

She gave him a sideways smile and took her helmet off the table. "Don't flatter yourself. We're in public; if you look bad, I look bad."

"Oooh, nice turnabout," he said admiringly "But yeah, I got it," he added, not sure he liked the serious turn in the conversation. At least not if it was going to be about him. "So speaking of Mandalore," he said carefully.

Sabine looked at him and waited. When it became clear Ezra had no intention of continuing she sighed. "You know that's neither a statement or a question right? You just going to leave that hanging awkwardly?"

"Yup," he said, then waited again.

"Alright what do you want? I'm not playing a guessing game."

"I don't know," Ezra said pointedly. I don't know enough about Mandalore to even ask any questions about it. You've never said anything about your home."

She eyed him coldly and took a drink from her Choco-caf. "And have you thought that maybe there are reasons for that?"

Ezra didn't much care for the icy tone her voice had taken but decided to push the issue a little bit further. "Of course; I'm not dumb. But you know what Sabine? You may not be the only Specter with a past they've run from, but I'm pretty sure you're the only one still running."

Sabine seemed to bristle, and Ezra prepared for her to go on the attack. And then all at once, she deflated. "You're perceptive Ezra Bridger, but there are just some things I don't talk about. Some memories I don't want to bring back up. Maybe someday I'll tell you about it, but you'll have to earn that kind of trust."

He nodded. Very well. He would do just as she suggested and earn that trust. Ezra was nothing if not loyal. "How about your time with Ketsu then? Is that still off the table too?" Ezra hadn't liked Sabine's friend when they had met a few weeks ago. Partially on account of her trying to kill them.

Sabine sighed. "There's not much to tell. After we left the academy, we thought we would try our hand at bounty hunting. We figured two armed and armored Mandalorians would be able to make a killing."

Ezra made a mental note that she mentioned an academy. He'd had suspicions; this was the first he'd heard of it. Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place: Academy washout. No. That wasn't right. Sabine was way to smart to have washed out. She had to have deliberately dropped out. "And," Ezra prodded. "How'd that go?"

She shrugged. "How else could it have turned out? I was barely fifteen trying to take on underworld bounties. We struggled through a few, then ran afoul of a Black Sun team working the same bounty. We beat them to apprehend the target. This was an alive-only contract, by the way, so when we got the mark first, they decided to blow our speeder away. I got knocked out by a close hit. Ketsu didn't even slow down, and I was left playing dead in a ditch overnight as the Black Sun thugs searched for me. I wouldn't have been faking it if they'd found me. Apparently, Ketsu escaping them was enough of a feat for them to recruit her."

"So where do Kanan and Hera come into this?" Ezra asked, curious.

"Pure luck. They found me bleeding and wounded in a cantina the next day. I was hoping Ketsu would come back to our normal place. Someone better found me. And that's all there is to that. Are you happy? You managed to wheedle some details out of me about my past."

"Well, actually I am. You've trusted me with the little things, and I won't let you down. Someday maybe you'll trust me with the big things."

Sabine took another sip of her drink. "Doubtful, but we'll see about that."

Thankfully the waitress arrived with their meals about that time and gave a good excuse to change the conversation. "Two Aldera Crown Cakes with the grilled Nerf Fillet and Starblossom Wine Reductions. Anything else I can get you two? No? Alright then, I hope you enjoy." She left the two teens to their meals.

"Oh wow, oh wow!" Ezra said smelling the food.

"You going to eat that like a civilized person or are you going to start inhaling it?" Sabine asked, amused.

"I could ask you the same about your Choco-cafs."

Sabine picked up her still half full drink and gave it a swirl. "You were saying?"

Ezra grumbled something incoherent then proceeded to try his meal. It turned out an Aldera Crown Cake wasn't a pastry like he was expecting, but was instead a formed vegetable dish. He didn't think he'd ever seen so many colors in one food dish before. Sabine was naturally pleased with the colors too. But it was the nerf filet however that really impressed. To Ezra, it was like something out of a dream; the savory meat was so tender it practically melted in his mouth.

Ezra had only half cleared his plate when the stormtroopers came in. He almost started crying, right then and there, in front of the whole restaurant and in front of Sabine. "Sometimes, sometimes life's not fair," he said quietly.

"Play it cool," Sabine whispered. "We haven't done anything to attract attention. They're probably not looking specifically for us."

"So we just got unlucky in the middle of the most glorious meal," Ezra said taking another careful bite of his Crown Cake. "Looks like they're just doing a sweep, checking Ids. What's the plan?"

"I don't know, but they'll be here in a minute." Sabine hissed, annoyed that Ezra was still trying to eat. "Can you focus a moment on something besides the food, please?!"

"Fine," he set down his utensil. "I could try and... Mind trick them I guess."

"All four of them? I seem to remember that you weren't very good at that particular gimmick." She looked at him skeptically.

"I'm getting better, just... just be ready to cover me if it goes badly." The truth was, Ezra, expected it to go badly. He'd never pulled it off on more than two people at a time and even then with less than inspiring success rates. Well, his dinner was on the line, so this had better work.

They tried to go back to acting natural, like a typical pair of diners enjoying their evening. When the squad of bucket heads reached him, Ezra was mid-mouthful. "Let's see some ID, please." the orange pauldroned officer asked.

That was surprisingly polite for a stormtrooper, Ezra thought to himself. I hope we don't have to hurt this guy...

He must have stalled too long because Sabine had taken over. "Oh excuse me... My  _boyfriend_  has our Ids.  _Dear_ , show the nice man our IDs." She smiled sweetly. A little too sweetly Ezra thought, and he wondered how painful that last speech had been for her to get out.

"Oh right!" Ezra said. "But I don't think you need to see our identification," he said waving his hand at the stormtroopers. He wasn't actually sure why he waved the hand, but he'd always seen Kanan do it that way. Ezra made a note to ask about why they did that.

The officer straightened slowly and turned to his squad. "We don't need to see their identification."

One of the bucket heads cocked his head to the side. "What are you... We need to see their IDs. What's the deal? Why are you repeating after the kid."

Kid? Ezra thought. Really? He shook the thought away and concentrated on the third stormtrooper. "No really, we're through here."

The third stormtrooper looked at the second one and repeated after Ezra, "No really, Sarge is right. We're through here."

The second trooper looked at his fellow bucket head, then at his officer. He repeated the gesture twice. Then he looked to the fourth stormtrooper. "What's...? What's going on here Chip?"

The fourth trooper, apparently named Chip, shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. Last stop and I'm just ready to get a drink. Look, kid, just show some ID, and we move on."

The officer put a hand on Chip's shoulder. "No really, we don't need to see his identification."

Ezra snuck a look at Sabine and tried to smile. She was staring at him with a horrified look on her face, and she slowly lowered her arms to her side. He could tell she was drawing her blasters. Oh please don't kill them, Ezra thought.

Meanwhile, the troopers were now in a four-way argument about the IDs they may or may not still need to see, whether or not their shift was over, and where they were going to get a drink when it was. Ezra started to believe it would work and was about to try swaying Chip to see his side of things when Sabine apparently decided she was through with this nonsense.

"Hey Bucketheads," she shouted, "should have listened to Sarge." She drew both her blasters and stunned all four troopers before they had a chance to do so much as turn their heads in her direction. The entire restaurant went deathly silent and stared at them.

"Oh come on! Sabine, they were  _this_ close to leaving. Did you really have to do that?"

"Yes, because I don't want to end up dead."

Ezra pouted and looked sadly at his half-eaten meal. "But my dinner..." he said miserably. He dug into his jacket and dug out a large handful of credits and tossed them on the table. This should more than cover the meal. He hoped Hera really did repay him; it hurt to be parted with that much money.

A Toydarian, the owner of the restaurant apparently, had flown up to them. He was not very happy. "Get out of here you no good kids! It's a good thing I'm no fan of the Empire, or I'd arrest you myself. But you've left me a mess to deal with and you'd better not be here when the troopers wake up! Out the back now, before I change my mind." He gestured towards a back exit angrily.

Ezra looked at his meal one more time and picked up his plate. "Can I just... take this with me."

The Toydarian looked at the pile of credits and sighed. "Take your plates. Take your girlfriend. And never come back."

Ezra smiled brightly and, balancing his and Sabine's plates in the crook of his arm, started walking toward the back exit. "She's not actually my girlfriend, by the..."

"GET OUT!" the owner shouted. Ezra and Sabine both practically ran out the back as every eye in the restaurant followed them.

They hurried out into a back alley. Ezra paused to lean against a wall, but Sabine pushed him from behind. "Nope, we don't stop till we're at least five blocks from here."

"Aww, but it'll be cold by then."

Sabine groaned. "You are unbelievable, sometimes."

They ended up walking nearly the rest of the way back to the Ghost before finding a building with a fire escape they could climb to the roof. Sitting on the roof, Ezra passed Sabine her plate of now cold Alderaanian food.

"You know Hera's going to wonder why we came back with a few new dishes for the Ghost," Sabine said accepting her cold meal.

"Eh... I was thinking we sneak them into the cabinets without her looking and don't say anything. The less we have to explain about tonight the better."

"You mean the less you have to explain to Kanan about how you failed to mind trick those stormtroopers?" Sabine asked pointedly.

"Yeah, he doesn't need to hear about that," Ezra chuckled.

Sabine stared at her plate distastefully. "I guess we're eating with our hands." Ezra laughed and pulled two forks out of his jacket. "Wait where did you get those?"

Ezra passed one of the forks to her. "Used to be a professional pickpocket remember? Palmed them on the way out. And no, don't give me that look. I left more than enough credits to consider the forks paid for too."

Sabine laughed and took the utensil. "Still gonna be a little hard to cut the nerf steak with just a fork." She happened to glance at Ezra and saw that he had stabbed the entire steak and was tearing pieces off with his mouth.

He froze when she saw him staring. "What? How else am I going to eat it? Look I'm sorry I didn't steal the table too so that you could have a nice delicate meal."

Sabine shook her head and rolled her eyes. Ezra noticed the corners of her mouth slowly turned up in a smile though. "You're a piece of work Bridger; you know that right?"

Ezra paused and put his fork down, trying to decide if that was a compliment or not.

"Oh, I know, it's because I take you on the nicest not-dates."

Sabine smiled tightly. "Ezra we're sitting on a rooftop in the dark, using stolen silverware, while you tear into a piece of cold steak like a rabid nexu. This... This is possibly the least romantic evening I've had in my entire life."

Ezra laughed good-naturedly. "Good thing you won't let me take you on a real date then."

She chuckled, conceding the point, and took a bite of her Crown Cake. "Yeah, we both know that's not happening anytime soon."

Ezra paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Heeeeey... You didn't say never that time."

Sabine's shoulder slumped, realizing her mistake. She frowned in irritation. "Oh for... Ezra, that..."

He was saved by her comm pinging. It was Kanan. "Hey, kids! How was the date! Hera said you guys had Alderaanian. That place is amazing!" He smiled the cockiest smile in his arsenal.

Ezra had seen Sabine give dirty looks before, usually directed at him. He was pretty sure it was something she practiced, because, dang, was she good at it. The look she gave Kanan now was enough to wither all the prairies of Lothal. Thankfully Kanan wasn't here in person, or he might not have survived it. Even so he apparently still felt it's heat. "Hey, easy with the guns there. Ezra, you might want to watch out. Sabine is obviously not in a good mood tonight."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Sabine asked shortly.

"Yeah, just wanted to let you know that we're back and..."

"Okay, then we're done." She cut the comm and looked at Ezra.

He tried to keep a straight face. He really did, but he felt the tug at the corners of his mouth. Ezra pursed his lips to try and keep it in, for all the good that did. He laughed, long and loud. Sabine looked at him annoyed for a moment before finally she too began to laugh. The two friends cracked up for several minutes, oblivious to the world around them. Suddenly Sabine's eyes went wide, and for a moment Ezra thought something was horribly wrong.

"We didn't get to order dessert!" Sabine pouted.


	3. Astromech Interferance

Zeb enters the kitchen. "Oh hey, good to see you, kit. We telling family stories? Cause I got some good ones about Ezra."

Jacen shrugs. "Mom and Sabine thought they were giving me first date advice, but it's kind of turned into a how-not-to manual. All I've learned so far is that Sabine and Ezra argued a lot and had a lot of not-dates. Whatever those are."

Zeb laughs. "Really? You're getting relationship advice from these two? Like do you know them at all? Your mom tried to hide for years from us that she and your dad were a thing. Like everyone knew. Even Kallus knew, and he was one of the bad guys back then. And Sabine? Ezra was basically in love with her for years, but she wouldn't give him the time of day. Then he disappears for seven years, and when she finally finds him, they get married like the next day." He frowns and stabs the counter with his finger for effect. "After not seeing him for seven years."

Sabine is back to tending her pot, her face tinted pink. "Well, when you say it that way it does sound pretty silly. Lost enough time by that point and figured we weren't getting any younger..."

Hera laughs out loud. "Alright, maybe your Aunt Sabine and I aren't the best role models when it comes to relationships."

"You think?" Zeb says, laughing again. "What stories have they told you so far, kit?"

"Well, the first was about Choco-cafs," Jacen tells him.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good one," Zeb agrees, stroking his facial hair. "Very important day in Sabine's life."

"Hey now," Sabine says frowning at her pot. She's been making a complicated traditional Loth-stew with dozens of ingredients that have to be added at very specific times to get the textures and flavors just right. Over the last decade, she'd slowly mastered the recipe, a miracle considering how bad she'd been at cooking back in the old days. "Just because I have an addiction doesn't mean you get to make fun of me for it, Zeb. No one talks about you and waffles."

"Details, details," Zeb says as he walks to Sabine's stew and takes the spoon.

He's about to taste it when Sabine slaps his hand away. "Paws off. This is for later. It's not done yet either."

Zeb grumbles. "What other stories have these two been filling your head with?"

"The other one was on Garel when mom sent them to get Alderaanian," Jacen says. "A whole lot of nothing happened, and then they stunned some stormtroopers, and Ezra stole a couple forks.

Zeb rubs his head. "I don't remember that one, doesn't seem like a very important story."

Sabine points her spoon at Zeb. "Hey, that's an important piece of my history with Ezra."

"Yeah, an important part of you brushing him off for years."

Sabine just rolls her eyes. "Moving on. I'm thinking something from Atallon should be next."

"Oh, if it's Atallon it's got to be Wedge the story," Hera says, a glimmer in her eye.

"I hope this one is better than the last one," Jacen grumbles.

Zeb shakes his head. "I... I can't handle this story. It's so awkward that to this day it makes me uncomfortable when someone brings it up..."

Jacen laughs. "Okay, this is sounding better already."

"Yeah, I'm not sticking around for this," Zeb says. "I'll go pick up Rex and Wolfe. Make sure the old geezers don't accidentally forget about tonight like they did last time." He leaves the room.

"Alright." Jacen rubs his hands together. "Let's hear this. Zeb has me looking forward to this one."

* * *

_**Astromech Interference** _

Sabine watched as her training group filed out of the room. She put a hand to her forehead and sighed, wondering for the hundredth time why she'd agreed to this. Commander Sato hadn't strictly ordered her to run this training group, but he had asked very nicely and persistently, and for some inexplicable reason she had eventually agreed.

Not that she minded the subject matter. Demolitions expert was one of the more enjoyable duties she fulfilled in Phoenix Squadron, but training green recruits to use explosives? Sabine trusted herself with explosives, not random recruits that volunteer to blow things up. Still, there was no one better than her for the task, so she grudgingly did her part.

They weren't even using live explosives yet anyway. She'd take the recruits somewhere  _far_  away from the base before letting them even so much as look at a hot thermal detonator. She pulled out her datapad and typed out a quick report to send to Sato. It amounted to little more than, everyone showed up, and no one died. At first, Sato had tried to get more detailed reports out of her, but that had been an exercise in futility. He quickly realized that he was lucky Sabine bothered to report at all.

She gathered her equipment and put it back into its case to take back to the Ghost. Scanning the training room to make sure nothing was out of order that would get her in trouble, she hit the light pad and walked out the door. She nearly bumped into Wedge, who seemed to be waiting by the door.

"Hey, Sabine! How are the recruits?"

Sabine frowned; she was pretty sure that Wedge couldn't possibly have any duties in the Ground Ops part of the base. Which meant he was waiting for her. "Oh it's fine I guess. I'm not really big on teaching or all the formalities, but there's no one better for the job. I'm doing my part." She started walking down the long hall and Wedge fell into place beside her.

"I bet you're doing a good job too," he said kind of lamely.

She raised an eyebrow. "I always do a good job. At everything."

"Right. Of course..." They walked in silence for a minute.

Sabine could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off the pilot. First, he had been waiting to ambush her after her training session in a part of the base he had no business in. Now he was acting... weird. Finally, she couldn't handle it any longer and stopped. "Okay Wedge, what are you up to?"

His eyes went wide. "Nothing! I'm not up to nothing. I mean anything. I'm not up to anything. Er, what I meant was..." He paused and looked at Sabine. She just raised an eyebrow. "Well I mean, I was kind of wondering if we could hang out sometime."

Sabine shrugged. Wedge was a decent guy, so why not? "Yeah, I don't see why not. Ezra and I have some free time this afternoon, and we were going to hit up the commissary if you wanted to join us."

"Oh right, I might do that. But what I meant was hang out, like as in just you and I sometime. Alone..." He did his best to look brave, but his courage seemed to be faltering under the gaze of Phoenix Squadron's dreaded Mandalorian.

Sabine stared at him for a moment surprised. So that's what he was after. "Are you asking me on a date, Wedge?"

"Maybe. I mean yes. If you'd like, that is..." he stammered.

She started walking again to give herself a moment to think. Wedge, huh? The thought had never really crossed her mind. Sure he was a nice guy, probably one of the nicest guys on Atallon, and he was easy enough on the eyes. But Wedge? Sabine wasn't sure about this.

Also, she wasn't sure what she even thought about a date, to begin with. As she'd grown older, she'd started to understand Hera's reasoning for not being in an open relationship with Kanan. When you're taking part in an active rebellion against an Empire encompassing millions of worlds, life is pretty busy. Sabine didn't think she had time for the extra fluff and nonsense of a relationship.

Plus in case something heartbreaking happened it was better not to be involved. She glanced at Wedge. Phoenix Squadron pilots didn't exactly have a long life-expectancy, and while Wedge seemed to be exceptionally skilled, he probably didn't have much of a future ahead of him.

"Soooo... Can I take your silence as a maybe...?" Wedge asked hopefully.

Sabine laughed. "Sorry Wedge, you caught me completely off guard. Most of the guys around here aren't even brave enough to come talk to me, let alone actually ask me on a date."

"Haha. Right. Look if this is about Bridger, I'm sorry."

Sabine stopped and stared at him? "What?!"

"You two are always around each other, and well the rest of the guys kind of assume you two are umm..." Wedge trailed off as if not sure what to say.

"What do they say we are?" Sabine asked icily.

"Not a couple I promise! Everyone knows that, but come on everyone knows how close you two are a lot of the guys figure it's just a matter of time... But well I thought I'd give it a shot anyway and see if... I don't know..." he trailed off nervously.

So that's it. It was true she and Ezra spent a lot of time together. They were shipmates. Friends. Partners. But more than that? She still had a lot of difficulties imagining it, even with how much he'd grown up over the last few years. But people thinking she was off limits because of Ezra? Oh, now that made her mad. If they thought she was off limits because they were afraid of her or because she was Mandalorian? Sabine would be okay with that, even flattered. She wasn't okay with everyone thinking she and Ezra were destined for each other or some such nonsense.

Impulsively, Sabine made up here mind "Sure. We can go on a date. You got something planned?"

Wedge let out a breath he'd been holding. "You will? Oh, that's great. I was thinking maybe a picnic? I can meet you tomorrow at the Ghost around 1200, and we can go from there."

"How about we meet somewhere else. The Ghost crew is tight-knit, and I really don't need to give them something to harass me about for the next month." That was the last thing she needed.

"Oh right. Umm, how about over at Star Fighter Ops then?"

"Fine with me. I'll see you then."

Wedge smiled a big sweet smile. "Awesome! Thanks! See you tomorrow!" He left and walked in the general direction of the barracks.

Sabine watched him go before it dawned on her what she'd just agreed to. She sighed loudly. "Sabine Wren, why did you agree to go on a date with Wedge?" she grumbled to herself.

* * *

"Sabine Wren, why did you agree to go on a date with Wedge?" Hera asked in disbelief. She'd swiveled the pilot's chair of the Ghost to look at Sabine "I know you don't  _like him_  like him. I mean he's a nice guy and easily my best pilot. But he doesn't really seem like a Sabine sort of guy if you know what I mean.

Sabine groaned. She knew exactly what Hera meant. She would have kept the whole thing a secret until she realized Hera had scheduled her for maintenance on the ghost at the time of the date. So she'd had to come begging to change times with Hera because she wasn't sure Wedge's heart could take her rescheduling with him. "Look, I made a decision on the spur of the moment because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Besides, it's just a date. No harm will come of it."

Hera regarded Sabine silently for a moment. "No, I guess not. Though this seems a bit out of character for you. Fine. Maintenance at 1400. I'll give you two hours."

Sabine sighed in relief. "Thanks, Hera. Sorry about the trouble." She turned to leave the cockpit, not really wanting to talk much more about the subject. Apparently, Hera wasn't done yet.

"Wait up a moment. Are you going to tell Ezra about this date?"

Sabine sighed. She was trying to not think about Ezra right now, and she wasn't completely sure why. Probably because she knew this would hurt his feelings. "No, I wasn't even going to tell  _you_ except for the schedule mix up."

"You might want to reconsider. He's going to find out. You know Wedge will tell his friends. You're something of a legend around Chopper Base, and word is going to spread that one of the guys actually talked you into a date. Ezra  _will_ find out."

Sabine came back and sat in the co-pilots chair. "You're right of course, but I don't have the heart to tell him myself." Hera smiled softly at Sabine. "Don't give me that look Hera. It's not because of what you're thinking, what you're hoping."

"Are you sure?" Hera asked? "Becuase if you are, I'm wondering why you would worry so much about this. You going on a date is your own business." She tilted her head for effect. "Unless it's also his business."

Sabine narrowed her eyes to show her displeasure at the subject Hera was about to bring up. "Look we're partners. That makes it his business."

"That's not what I meant," Hera said.

"I know what you meant," Sabine bit out shortly. The truth was Sabine,  _was_ worried about how Ezra would take it, and she  _didn't_  want to hurt him. There were any number of perfectly valid reasons for that too. As for the one Hera was implying? She was confident that wasn't one of them. Mostly. If she was honest with herself, she  _had_ briefly entertained the idea once or twice. Ezra was still Ezra, and he always would be, but his unending loyalty to her had started to work its way under her skin. His understanding and patience with everything that had happened on Concord Dawn and his concern for her well being on Dathomir had been sweet. If a bit misplaced; she could take care of herself, after all. Still, it was nice to know that someone was there to watch her back, no matter the situation.

She shook her head to clear these thoughts. Ezra  _was_  still Ezra, which meant he was a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. Suddenly she realized that she'd been quiet for too long and Hera was giving her a knowing look. "Sorry," Sabine said. "Lost in thought."

"Uhh huh," Hera said slowly. "Look I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't date, but if you ever  _do_  want to talk about these things, I'll be waiting. You might even coax me into talking about Kanan a bit."

"Oh, that's not even fair bait," Sabine said frowning.

"No, I think it's perfectly fair. You talk. I talk. Offer stands on the table. Woman to Woman."

"Hmm," Sabine said. "Well that's a tempting offer, and maybe I'll take you up on that. Someday. In the meantime keep the Wedge thing between us. I'll tell Ezra myself to keep it from reaching him by way of rumor."

"That's my girl. I think he'd appreciate hearing it from you," Hera said. "Now I really need to get back to the fun part of my job: reports." She said this with as much sarcasm as she could muster.

"You could just do what I do. Blow Sato off. He gives up eventually."

"As a higher ranking officer, I'm going to act like I didn't hear that."

Sabine laughed and turned to leave the cockpit. Neither of the women noticed that Chopper had been beneath them in the nose gun, quietly listening to the whole conversation. The surly droid chuckled to himself, already planning mischief.

* * *

The date came far sooner than Sabine would have liked, and she was nearly dreading it by the time it came. Unfortunately, she hadn't found a way to tell Ezra about it the previous evening and this morning he had been out training with Kanan. She hoped Wedge wouldn't start telling people about their date before she saw Ezra again this evening. Otherwise, things would get awkward.

Sabine met Wedge at Start Fighter Ops at 1200 on the dot. He was waiting for her with a basket of food. She tried to smile at him but was worried it came off as forced. "Hey, Wedge! You ready to go?"

"Sure. You're not in a hurry are you?" he asked casually."

Oops, Sabine thought. Not the right tone. "No sorry, have some maintenance with Hera later, but I'm good for now."

"Oh good!" Wedge smiled. "Right this way, I've got a great spot picked out." He led her out of the base out onto an overlook. The strange coral plateaus that chopper base rested upon had numerous such overlooks. They'de have plenty of privacy out here. Sabine stood to look out at Atallon's strange landscape. It was a beautiful, if alien, terrain and thankfully it was the pleasant time of the year. During the summer Atallon's weather was what Zeb liked to describe as having all the charm of an armpit. Gross, but accurate.

Sabine turned back to Wedge. He was beginning to unpack their meal in a nice shady spot. "I managed to sweet talk Binny at the mess hall into setting me up with the good stuff."

Sabine eyed the meal. "No kidding. How'd you manage that?"

Wedge laughed, "Ha, yeah let's say I'll be doing some extra chores for him for awhile."

"Look you didn't have to go overboard here, Wedge..." she said sitting down by him.

"No, no it's fine! I wanted to," he said with a dismissive hand gesture. He held up a small foil covered bar. "Look I even managed to get a small bar of chocolate. I've heard you're really into Choco-caf, but this is the best I could manage."

Sabine smiled. Okay, it  _was_ sweet that he'd gone to this much trouble for her. "Aww, thanks, Wedge. You really shouldn't have gone to this much effort, but I appreciate it."

His smile lit up from ear to ear. "Well, let's eat!"

They sat down and started the meal. It was nothing fancy, but better than rations and better than mess hall fare, so Sabine didn't mind one bit. She  _did_ , however, mind the small talk. Wedge began to prattle on and on about little things, the weather, people around the base, and other such topics. Sabine really wasn't much for banal conversation, and she felt herself just nodding and smiling a lot. That was one of the nice things about Ezra, she thought dully. He didn't have to fill empty space with words these days. Once he would never stop talking. Now? If there was nothing to talk about they could just sit and enjoy the view, play their game of dejarik, cubikahd, or whatever else they were doing.

Wedge just... seemed. Unsettled. As if Sabine would get up and leave if he stopped talking, or like he felt he had to entertain her. Finally, she sighed. "Look, Wedge, I'm not good at all the pleasant conversation so... I'm not trying to be rude, I promise."

He looked at her for a moment and turned red. "Yeah and I've just been blathering on haven't I. Sorry."

Sabine shook her head. "No, It's fine. I promise I'm the one that's lacking in social skills." She tried to smile at him. It felt weak, and she resisted the impulse to check her chrono. 1400 and maintenance with Hera couldn't come fast enough.

Wedge went back to talking about, something, Sabine wasn't really paying attention anymore. Then she heard a distant voice. "That's weird," she said to Wedge, "I wonder who's out here."

"Beats me, I thought this would have been a fairly private spot. Guess I was wrong," Wedge said shrugging.

Well, that's that, Sabine thought glumly. Someone was about to see them, and the rumor mill was about to get started. Wedge's popularity was about to skyrocket, and Sabine would have a lot of annoying questions to answer, all over a stupid date she shouldn't have agreed to.

That's when Sabine heard the distinctive sound of a certain astromech and her pulse rate spiked. No way. She heard the voice again. Oh no, she thought, why are Ezra and Chopper out here. He's not... He's not crashing the date, is he? Ezra wouldn't do that...

She looked at Wedge, right as he recognized the voice and his eyes narrowed. Chopper and Ezra walked around the corner into view. "Chopper I don't know what's gotten into you." Ezra was saying. "There aren't any sensor markers up here because there wouldn't be any krynka spiders up here. No, I don't care what your log says. Look around you. Look where we're at."

Sabine breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't here to crash the date, something that deep down, she knew he would never do. Maybe, just maybe, he would turn and leave without facing their direction. Maybe he and Chopper would...

Chopper grunted and pointed at her and Wedge. Ezra turned and then nearly jumped out of his boots. For being a Jedi, he sure was oblivious to his surroundings sometimes. "Oh umm. Hey, Sabine... Wedge. What are you guys doing all the way out here?"

"Well, we  _were_  on a date, before you and Chopper decided to show up that is." Wedge said, not even trying to hide his annoyance with the Jedi.

"A date?  _Oh,_ a date!" Ezra said and paused. Sabine could see the disappointment in his posture, how his shoulders slumped and his arms hung just a little more limply to his side. She hoped Wedge couldn't see. "Well, I hope you're having fun. Chopper reported a hole in the sensor wall, but he's pretty clearly brought us to the wrong place, so uh... we'll be going now." Ezra turned to go. Sabine was going to owe him quite an explanation later.

Actually did she? She and Ezra were just friends after all, and she could do as she pleased with her free time, even spend it with Wedge if she wanted. What right did he have to be disappointed? He knew where they stood and...

"Just a second, Bridger," Wedge said.

"Uh sure... What do you need?" the Jedi turned back around.

Wedge was quiet for a minute, but Sabine could feel the coming storm. Great, this was going to be fun for everyone, she thought bitterly.

"You expect me to believe that you're here by accident, that your  _droid_  brought you up here. Led you  _right_  here?"

Ezra looked at Wedge, then at Sabine. His eyes were wide and confused, like a wild animal caught in the lights of a speeder. "Yes? I mean I'm not sure why else I'd be here..."

Wedge stood up, his fists clenched. "Don't give me that Bridger. Your  _droid_  brought you up here? You know what I think? I think you followed us. I think you're jealous." Ezra didn't respond immediately, but Sabine could see the servos starting to turn in his head as he realized what was about to happen. Wedge, unfortunately, wasn't done. "Everyone on base knows you follow Sabine around everywhere. Everyone knows how you feel. You know what? You should have just asked her on a date yourself. I did. And she said yes. And then you dare to come here and..."

"I would never do that to Sabine," Ezra said so softly that Sabine almost didn't hear it.

"What was that?" Wedge said stepping closer to Ezra. Surely they weren't about to get into a fight over her...

"I said. I would  _never._  Do that to Sabine." Ezra said again, firm and resolute.

Sabine was suddenly fiercely proud of Ezra for standing up for himself, for being so loyal to her, for... everything really. Her heart skipped and beat before she realized it, and she barely managed to slam a lid on some uncomfortable emotions.

Something about his tone of voice must have made Wedge waver. "Then why are you here?"

"I told you already. Chopper said there was a gap in the sensor wall and said it was  _right_ here," he stabbed his finger at the ground for emphasis. "Obviously the bucket of bolts was wrong. Chopper, pull up that log, let's see exactly where..." He looked over at Chopper who had conveniently disappeared.

Sabine cleared her throat, and both the males looked at her. "I'm pretty sure we have a suspect, and that he's fled the scene of the crime." She smiled sweetly at the young men.

Ezra clenched his fists, and Sabine could see him bristling. "I'll go get him. He's going to pay this time." Ezra stormed off in the direction the two had come from a few minutes previous.

Wedge paced back and forth. "Am I really supposed to believe that an astromech tried to crash our date."

Sabine raised an eyebrow. "Yes. That's pretty normal behavior for Chopper. And I believe Ezra: he wouldn't do that to me."

Wedge's face fell. "I see. I... I guess this was a bad idea. I'm starting to think you might rather be here with him after all."

Sabine sighed "You want an honest answer to that question?"

Wedge shook his head. "Probably not."

"Well you're going to get it anyway, and I'm going to trust you to keep it to yourself. The honest answer is this: I don't know. You're a nice guy Wedge, but I should have politely turned you down rather than let you get involved in the mess that happens to be Sabine Wren. I'm sorry."

Wedge nodded and then looked at her long and hard. "No, don't apologize, I knew better than to ask you. I should have..." He was cut off by the sound of Chopper's protesting. "They're back."

Chopper appeared around the bend, floating in the air and waving his manipulators wildly. Ezra emerged behind him, arm outstretched, lifting the misbehaving droid with the Force. Ezra set him down and grabbed onto him to try and keep him still. It wasn't working for well.

" _Chopper_!" Sabine shouted and stalked to the droid. Chopper settled down. Sabine was one of the few people that actually frightened Chopper. "What's gotten into you? Do you know what you did?" Chopper warbled his unique form of binary. Sabine turned to Wedge. "Do you understand him or do I need to translate?"

"Sort of...? I can get some of it, but... I really don't get this droid at all. Why doesn't Hera wipe its memory; it would make him a lot easier to work with and understand."

Sabine put a hand on his shoulder. "Wedge, if Hera heard you say that, she would wipe  _your_ memory. Chopper said that he knew about the date and was trying to crash it. Chopper. Did you follow us? How did you know where we were?"

Chopper grunted and pointed at Sabine's right boot. She checked it and found a tracker attached down near the heel. Sabine's blood began to boil, and she pulled the tracker off. Throwing it to the ground, she crushed it with her boot. "How dare you put a tracker on me, filthy little short-circuiting  _grease tub!_  When Hera finds out about this, she's going to strip you for parts.

Suddenly Chopper started protesting and trying to apologize. Even more unexpectedly Wedge started laughing. Ezra and Sabine stared at him. "That's... That's actually kind of amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a droid do anything so creative. Explains why Here doesn't have his memory wiped. I may see about trying the same with my R4."

Ezra eyed him surprised. "So... are we okay now that we've gotten Choppers confession?"

Wedge stuck out his hand. Ezra carefully shook it as the pilot continued. "Yeah, we're okay. I'm... I'm sorry. I overreacted. This day has just been a disaster, and frankly, I'd prefer if none of us ever spoke about it again."

The three of them looked down at Chopper. "Yeah that's for the best," Sabine said glumly. "I'll owe you one for... all of this Wedge."

"That's fine, but you don't owe me another date. I think it may be best if I keep my distance from the Ghost Crew's personal lives. They apparently have an overprotective pet..."

Ezra laughed. "I don't think Chopper was doing this to protect anyone... Just why did you do this Chop? This was pretty cruel even for you."

Chopper's dome swiveled back and forth between Ezra and Sabine several times before he let out one final string of binary.

Ezra's eyes went wide. "Yeah, that's enough out of you." With one swift motion, he reached behind Chopper and flipped the droid off.

"What did he say?" Wedge asked.

Sabine shook her head nervously and laughed. "You... don't want to know. Trust me."

"Hmm..." Wedge grunted. "I guess I'll take your word for it. Sorry about the terrible date, Sabine. I'll, uh, see you around sometime I guess." He turned to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Wedge!" she called after him.

He turned around, nodded and smiled, and then left.

Sabine and Ezra stood there awkwardly for a moment before Ezra decided to vocalize the question on both their minds. "So why is Chopper suddenly trying to play matchmaker?"

Sabine put her hands on her hips and stared and the now quiet droid. "I can't make any sense of this one... He said he wasn't going to let me go on a date with anyone but you. That's... awfully sentimental for Chopper."

"Maybe Hera's rubbing off on him?"

"Yeah, you're right. This is probably Hera's fault." Sabine groaned. "She and I are going to have words. And then she is going to have a few with Chopper to make sure he stays out of our business."

Ezra looked bashfully at Sabine. "I'm really sorry... About your date with Wedge. He's a nice guy. Maybe you should give him a second chance."

Sabine shook her head. "No, I shouldn't have even said yes to begin with. I'm sorry you got pulled into this. I was going to tell you, so you weren't surprised when the rumors started. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but I kinda clammed up and then couldn't find you this morning." She sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "What a mess. And I'm still going to have to explain the whole thing to Hera, so she straightens Chopper out."

Ezra walked over to the mostly untouched picnic basket. Sabine had been too frustrated to eat much and Wedge too busy talking. The bar of chocolate lay there unopened. "Hmm," Ezra said, "Wedge didn't take his food. Shame if it went to waste." He sat down and took a bite out of an untouched jogun fruit.

"Ezra Bridger you are a horrible person."

He laughed. "And so are you. Pretty sure you haven't had lunch yet either."

She rolled her eyes but sat down and began to pick through the food with him. "I'm pretty sure this is the most shamelessly despicable thing we've ever done."

"Yeah, probably but why miss out on an opportunity for a meal like this. I don't know how Wedge talked Binny out of all this good stuff." Sabine thought of Wedge stuck doing extra chores for Binny and decided it was best if she didn't say anything. She'd make it up to Wedge somehow. But today...?

"Let's eat," Sabine said. "I've got to get back to Hera in less than an hour. And I want to make sure and have time to paint Chop before we turn him back on."

"Oh nice, good idea," Ezra said finishing his jogun. "You know I'm always up for revenge. Got anything special in mind?"

Sabine smiled wickedly. "How do you think Chopper would look in pink?"

* * *

Jacen stares at Sabine in horror. "Please tell me you didn't eat the bar of chocolate too."

"We ate the bar of chocolate too." Sabine deadpans.

The silence in the room is palpable. Jacen finally shakes his head. "I can't believe you did that to that Wedge kid."

"Wedge kid..." Hera says, a sly smile forming. "You mean Wedge Antilles? You didn't know who we were talking about? I'd thought that, being a pilot. you would have known who we were talking about..."

Jacen's eyes go wide with horror. "Wait,  _the_ Wedge Antilles? The only survivor of both Death Star runs and chancellor of the New Republic Fighter Pilot Acadamy on Hosnian Prime?!  _That_ Wedge?!" Hera notices that Jacen's eyes have practically popped out of his head. "You... You guys did that to Wedge Antilles? He's a legend..."

Sabine laughs at the look of horror on Jacen's face. "Yeah, we did. Worst date I ever went on too. Also, I can't believe you didn't know your mom helped train Wedge."

Jacen looks at his mother strangely. "That's right you better be reassessing how amazing your mom is. And don't forget it." Sabine says. "Now. Out of the kitchen. We're almost done here, and I'm pretty sure some of the others have arrived and will want to see you. We can finish this later."

Jacen takes one last look at the women before leaving the room. They both share a good long laugh and go back to their work. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, I felt so bad writing this one. I don't really enjoy awkward humor so writing about Chopper crashing a date was almost physically painful. Poor Wedge. Just a nice guy. Who helped blow up two Death Stars. He's just lucky he survived Phoenix Squadron, with how mercilessly Dave Filoni killed A-Wing Pilots...
> 
> So this was our season 3 story. The next one is a good one. Trust me, if you're into Ezrabine at all, you'll like it. :D


	4. Steps in the Right Direction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting to the meat of this little series of works! This chapter and the following ones will be quite a bit more serious...

Later in the evening after the meal, the family gathering breaks up into a few different activities. Rex, Wolfe, Kallus, and Zeb are at the Sabaac table. This is nothing new. Rex and Wolfe will laugh a lot, Zeb will probably lose a fair number of credits, Kallus will win those credits, and then his wife, Lillia, will insist on returning the credits.

Rex tries to deal Jacen in, but Hera scolds him for trying to let her son gamble. Rex laughs. "Seriously Hera. Lillia won't let money change hands. It's not really gambling is it?"

"Then why have money out at all?" Hera asks the old clone.

"Well if there's not money, then there's no Sabaac," Wolfe says, incredulous that Hera would suggest such a thing.

Hera rolls her eyes, wishing she had Sabine's skill at that particular expression. "Sabine and I need him anyway. We started something earlier and need to finish."

"Oh. Great," Jacen says, probably wondering if the Sabaac table wouldn't be more fun than his mom and aunt's stories.

"Don't give me that look. Ezra and the girls are getting a fire going in the pit out back. Tales around a fire are always good. Go help them out, Jacen."

He shrugs and heads outside. Hera turns back to the Sabaac table. "Room for more outside if you tire of Sabaac, gentlemen."

Zeb turns to look at Hera. "Hmm, we still just telling embarrassing stories about Ezra and Sabine, because some of those make me shudder, Hera."

Kallus scowls. It's still his favorite facial expression two decades later. "Zeb. I seem to remember you being involved in most of those same... incidents."

"If you're talking about the Tie Fighter, yes we know, you had to write up a bunch of reports about the famous Meiloorun Incident." He says the last two words comically and waves his hands for emphasis. "Karabast, Alexandr, you bring that up at least once everytime we all get together,

Wolfe laughs. "It's true; you do!"

Kallus' scowl deepens, though his cheeks might have started to color a little pink. Hera smiles, loving these times when everyone is together. "Alright, well come join us after a couple of hands."

Kallus nods, stern and dignified. "We will, Hera. After I have taught these fools a lesson."

"Oh ho ho!" Rex cackles. "He's got some spirit left! Let's see if we can't actually win this time boys!"

Outside, Hera sees that Ezra has finished with the fire. Naturally, they have to buy synth logs on Lothal, but a roaring fire is charming in autumn even then. Ezra is dancing around the fire with Hanah on his shoulders. She squeals with laughter. Hera smiles tightly, never tired of seeing Ezra with his kids. His hapless charm translated well into beloved father.

Hanah's older sister, Mira, is talking to Jacen. She's barely nine but already loves flying. This, naturally, makes Jacen the coolest person she's ever met. Jacen doesn't seem to mind having a young fan and is busy telling some Academy story. Hera is grateful that he's so good with the younger family members, that he didn't grow up too fast for his own good.

Lillia is holding Caleb, Ezra and Sabine's youngest. He's already fast asleep. Hera goes and sits by Lillia and offers to take Caleb. Lillia has only been with them for a few years, and Hera has done her best to make sure she doesn't feel like an outsider. She also makes sure they aren't too overbearing on the newcomer, and foisting one of the littles onto her makes Hera feel guilty.

Lillia laughs. "Oh, relax Hera. He's asleep. No need to risk waking him." She looks at the Twi-lek as if she can read her mind. "You really don't have to fuss over me Hera. You've more than made me welcome in your family."

Hera nods gracefully. "It's nice to have another woman around. Sabine and I were rather outnumbered by the men..."

They suddenly hear shouts and laughter from the house. "Well, that was appropriately timed," Lillia chuckles. "It's almost as if they were listening."

"That's what I was thinking," Hera says, eyebrow raised. "Wonder how much money Zeb just lost?" They share a laugh.

Sabine has come out of the house with Chopper. "Where are you at Jacen? We're not through yet."

He laughs. "Right here, Sabine. I know what's coming. Is the next story going to be about you embarrassing another one of the Republic's greatest heroes?"

"If you count Ezra, then Yes."

"I don't think I count as one of the Republic's greatest heroes, Sabine, maybe more of a local hero," Ezra says, putting Hanah down. "Alright Hanah, you want to go play with Chop?"

The five-year-old smiles brightly and nods. "Alright, you two can go play. Behave for Chopper." Chopper extends a manipulator to Hanah, and she takes his grip and walks back into the house with him. Hera shakes her head. Even after all these years, she's still surprised that Chopper makes such a good babysitter. He can still be a terror to Ezra and Zeb, sometimes even Kallus when a mischievous mood works its way into his dome, but to the kids? He's gentle, even sweet. Hera thinks that maybe something on his logic boards might have fried in his old age, but she sure wasn't going to fix it.

"Okay, Ezra says, "What embarrassing story are we going to fill Jacen's head with." He sits on one of the benches by the fire. "I need to know just how much credibility I'm about to lose."

Sabine joins him by the fire and leans in close. "How about one from Krownest?"

"Oh boy. Anytime your mother is involved you know it's going to be good," Ezra winks at Sabine. Hera laughs, but Sabine has a look on her face that says she interpreted that as a dig at her mother. "That didn't come out right, so I'll just let you tell your story."

Sabine clears her throat. "Shortly after we rescued my father from Clan Saxon on Mandalore..."

Steps in the Right Direction

Sabine sat down at the table across from Ezra. "Why so down, Jedi?"

Ezra jumped "Oh hey! Didn't know you were free. I kind of thought you were going to be with your family all evening." They had arrived on Krownest only a few hours ago, just for a quick rest and then they were onto Yavin the next morning.

That was the plan anyway. Then the Countess decided to throw a banquet, a very Mandalorian Banquet that had had more drinking and sparring matches than Ezra was really comfortable with. There had also been speeches and a few other clans around, but Ezra wasn't interested in the politics of what was going on. Kanan had long since retreated to Ezra's ship, leaving the younger Jedi sitting at a table in the Great Hall alone sipping his shig tea.

"This is your last chance to see your family for awhile, you know," Ezra said casually.

"I'm aware of that, Ezra," Sabine said evenly. "At the same time, I haven't gotten to see you for months."

"Aww… Have you been missing me, Sabine?" He phrased it like a joke, hoping for a round of comfortable banter.

"Well, yes I have been," she said candidly, almost timidly.

Ezra's smile died. That wasn't quite the response he'd been expecting. "I… I'm sorry," he said lamely.

Sabine looked at her own drink, something that looked a little more alcoholic than Ezra's tea, and took a sip. "There's an old Mandalorian saying," she mused. "It says that home is where you fight your battles. You turn around to look back at where it used to be..." Sabine trailed off.

"And it's no longer there," Ezra completed the thought.

Sabine nodded. "Because it's come with you." Sabine was quiet for a minute as if struggling with how to continue "This place will always be part of me, but my home is on the Ghost now. With you guys. I'm ready to go home." Having said this, her eyes softened, as if she'd said something long on her mind.

Ezra smiled. "And we'll be glad to have you back, Sabine."

She took another long pull from her drink. "Now sentimental nonsense aside, what was that conversation you had with my dad a little while ago. I felt like I missed something important?"

Ezra froze. Not half an hour ago he had visited the Countess' table to politely exchange formalities. Alrich had very deliberately gone out of his way to use the phrase 'with her' several times in the conversation, referencing his first meeting with Ezra. Ezra had secretly been hoping that that would never be spoken of again, but unfortunately, Alrich had a sense of humor.

"Private joke," Ezra said abruptly. "Sorry, wasn't expecting him to bring that up."

Sabine narrowed her eyes. "How can you two have a private joke when you've spoken like, what, four or five times?"

Ezra looked at Sabine and deflected. "Yeah, well you know us guys..."

"No, actually I don't, but I can already see you aren't going to tell me. Fine; keep your secrets with my dad. It's probably about me anyway, and I know I'm not going to like what I hear." She looked at Ezra pointedly.

Ezra looked back at her and smiled.

"Well is it about me or not, Loth-rat?!" she said narrowing her eyes like some sort of predator.

"You said you didn't want to know..." Ezra said raising his hands defensively.

"That was a clear invitation for you to buckle up and tell me."

Ezra laughed and shook his head. "There is no version of this conversation in which I explain this to you, so get used to the disappointment."

Sabine sighed and slumped dramatically. "Fine. I'll see what I can get out of dad later." Ezra felt a cold chill go down his spine. He sure hoped Alrich had a strong will and could resist his daughter, or else Ezra was going to have an awkward situation on his hands. Sabine moved on to a new topic. "I guess old man Kanan already went to bed?"

"Yeah, I don't think he was looking forward to a Mandalorian-style celebration."

"Hera doesn't let him drink anymore," Sabine said with a laugh. "Not that he would anyway."

"Our ascendant Jedi Master has grown beyond the need for alcohol." Ezra joked playfully. "Speaking of drinking," he inclined his head towards Sabine suggestively, "that seems a little stronger than the caf you usually get."

Sabine frowned slightly. "Just one mug of tihaar. I'm surprised you didn't get something alcoholic as well."

Ezra laughed. "It would feel so wrong to me; I'm not even old enough to drink on Lothal. Plus, Kanan would go into lecture mode, and that's something I can live without." He raised an eyebrow playfully. "Besides, I'm plenty of fun sober; you're the one that may need something to make you a bit more..." Ezra noticed that Sabine had narrowed her eyes dangerously just as he had anticipated. He continued without missing a beat. "...Graceful, elegant, and deadly."

Sabine's eyes softened into a smile. "Well, it's nice to know I have you so thoroughly trained."

"That's what I let you think. It's worth it to see you smile."

Sabine blushed at that statement then shook her head to clear it. "Okay, I'm regretting the liquor now. Alcohol seems to weaken my defenses to your sappy compliments. No more of that you moof milker."

Ezra just laughed. "You're just making it more fun, you know."

Sabine gave him one of her epic eye-rolls. "Well, don't get used to it; tonight's a special occasion." Suddenly music started playing on the other side of the room, real, live instruments and not a recording. Sabine brightened. "Oh hey look at that. Clan Eldar brought a band."

A group of five dark grey and orange colored warriors had set up in a corner. Ezra didn't recognize any of the instruments offhand and assumed they were traditional Mandalorian instruments. The musicians began to play a high energy tune, something that felt earthy and primal, and Ezra found himself tapping his foot to the rhythm almost at once.

"Well it's not Quenk Jazz, but Mando Akaan Bes'laar isn't half bad either," Sabine said appreciatively.

"That's going to need a translation," Ezra said, shaking his head. It didn't help that Mandalorians loved to name things in their own language, and their words being so blasted awkward for outsiders to hear correctly only made matters worse.

"Mandalorian war music," she explained. "Played before battle or celebrations to raise the spirits. It's the most common traditional music on Mandalore. Lots of songs about comradery, honor, clan, even love. They remind us that life as a warrior can be short, to live it to its fullest, and protect our family and the things we love most."

Ezra nodded thoughtfully. The more he learned about Mandalorians, the more he realized how important the concept of family was to them, and the more he realized how hard Sabine's forced exile had been on her. It went against everything in her upbringing and everything in her culture. That Sabine considered the Ghost her home, and it's crew her family was something Ezra would need to take very seriously.

"Are you staring at me because I'm that easy on the eyes, or are you just lost in thought," Sabine asked, with a sly grin.

Ezra sighed, he hadn't even realized he'd been staring. "Sorry. Lost in thought. Er well, both I guess, you are easy on the eyes." he added. Right on cue Sabine blushed and tried to look away. Ezra chuckled; this was fun.

"Look, as much as I like being complimented, the next time we do some hand-to-hand training, I will destroy you and make you go crying to Kanan."

Ezra shrugged and smiled. "I've got no regrets."

Sabine opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly Tristan appeared beside her "Hey Sabine, you up for some fun?"

"I was having fun. But you've got something in mind so just spill it." Sabine said coldly.

Tristan smiled brightly, "I talked to one of the Clan Eldar musicians; they're going to perform the Redalur'oya. I think they're moving some of the tables back now to make room."

Sabine looked thoughtfully at the musicians. "I haven't seen the Redalur'oya in... seven years? More maybe?"

Ezra looked back and forth between them. "Anyone care to explain the bit of Mando culture I'm missing here?"

Sabine nodded. "The Redalur'oya is the... How do we even explain this Tristan?"

Tristan scratched his head. "It's a series of songs and dances that are, well... old. I guess I should know it's history better, but a couple of thousand years at least."

"Possibly as old as the Late Crusader Period," Sabine added, trying to be helpful. Ezra wasn't so sure this was helpful since he had no clue when or what the Late Crusader Period was, but he decided to nod as if this was important information. He made a mental note to read up on Mandalorian history at the first opportunity.

Tristan continued. "The Redalur'oya is structured like an epic poem: one long interconnected piece divided into eight cantos. Each canto deals with a different aspect of Mandalorian life: One is devoted to family, another to battle, another to death in war, and so on. You even have to wear Mandalorian armor to participate since many of the steps in the dance involve armor striking armor. The sound of our armor becomes part of the music, part of the percussive backbone."

"That sounds pretty cool actually," Ezra said admiringly.

"It is," Sabine agreed. "Every Mandalorian musician learns the cantos of the Redalur'oya, and most everyone else learns the steps to the dances as children. They're not difficult to learn or perform; it's meant to be something that all Mandalorians can take part in. Taken as a whole the Redalur'oya is a... A celebration of everything Mandalorian." She smiled, satisfied with the explanation.

"So what do you say, little sister. Join us?" Tristan extended her an eager hand.

Sabine hesitated. "Tristan, I haven't seen or taken part in the Redalur'oya in years, I was barely a teenager the last time…"

"You'll be fine, come on," he said.

Sabine glanced at Ezra as if looking for an escape. He smiled and gestured at Tristan. "I think you'd regret it if you didn't join in. Have fun. I want to see this."

Sabine laughed nervously and took Tristan's hand as he pulled her to her feet. "Ezra if you just want to see me make a fool of myself, then I will beat the Force out of you later."

"You couldn't if you wanted to," he said as she turned to walk away.

"That's a lie, and you know it," Sabine shouted over her shoulder.

Ezra just smiled and let her have the last word. There was a lot of commotion in the room as word of the Redalur'oya had spread. It seemed the decision had been made to remove most of the tables. Ezra found a quiet spot at the side of the room where he would be able to watch without being in anyone's way. Soon the entire room was gathered around the makeshift dance floor. A group of about twenty-five Mandalorians appeared to be taking part in the actual dance. They came from at least four clans and seemed to include teenagers, adults and even one very old female warrior.

The lead musician stood and raised a fist to the sky. "Let the Redalur'oya be heard and felt by all. May Mandalore endure forever!" A cheer rippled through the crowd as the music started. It started with just the drum, beating a slow pulsing beat. Suddenly all the dancers began to march in time with the beat and formed into neat rows.

The instruments joined in and formed a bright and cheerful march, and the dance began in earnest. Sabine had been right. It didn't appear to be a complicated dance, but it was strange to Ezra's Lothalian upbringing. Its steps tended to fall into one of two categories; either very abrupt motions that involved armor striking armor, such as striking the wrist armor to the chest plate, or very slow and deliberate transitions to the next position. To Ezra's untrained eye, the Redalur'oya seemed to alternate back and forth between these two movements types seemingly at random. On rare occasions, the dancers would interact, often by extending one arm to the person beside them, while using their other to knock wrist guards with the person on the other side.

At first, Ezra thought that this was a solemn event, not to be interrupted. He realized this wasn't the case when one of the dancers made a mistake and plowed ungracefully into his neighbor. There was a good deal of laughter as he bowed to the audience and tried to find his place again. It seemed the Redalur'oya was meant to be enjoyed rather than stressed over.

Ezra watched Sabine intently. Her natural agility made her a graceful and precise dancer. He wasn't surprised by this. She seemed to be enjoying herself if the smile on her face was anything to go by.

Suddenly there was a voice at Ezra's side. "Well I see not all of her heart has left Mandalore."

Ezra turned quickly and bowed his head to Countess Ursa Wren. "I'm sorry, my Lady, you surprised me."

"Hmm, yes you seemed quite focused on the Redalur'oya... Or perhaps just my daughter." Ezra's cheeks began to turn red as he quickly tried to think of an appropriate reply. "Fear not, I'm not here to catch you in a trap. Come with me so that we may speak freely." Ezra tried not to let his disappointment show, but he nodded and followed the Countess across the room to the dais where her throne usually sat. She climbed the steps, and Ezra instinctively stopped at the bottom. She gestured to Ezra. "Join me. How else shall we see over the crowd?"

Ezra carefully joined her on the dais and stood beside her, watching the ongoing dance and listening to the music as it shifted drastically in mood and texture. The Countess began to explain this new phase of the tradition. "The second canto is about youth and coming of age. There are lyrics written for it and occasionally..." Suddenly a few voices started singing in Mando'a. "Occasionally a few brave souls will sing. The music is faster now, representing the good times in life, time spent with family and celebration." Ezra noticed more mistakes from the dancers than in the first slower piece.

"It's... amazing. Lothal doesn't have anything like this," Ezra said quietly.

"We're a proud people," Ursa said solemnly. "And very old. Some of our traditions inspire; they promote nobility and honor. Others left our homeworld a barren wasteland." They were quiet for a few minutes after that. Ezra could think of nothing appropriate to say after so honest an approximation of her culture from the Countess.

As the next canto began and the tone and tempo of the music shifted, Ursa spoke up again. "Ezra Bridger I will ask you a question now, and I expect an honest answer from you. Is that understood?"

Ezra felt an uneasiness settle in his stomach. She wasn't going to leave him much choice, was she? "Yes, my Lady."

"Are you romantically involved with my daughter?"

Ezra raised an eyebrow. That didn't take long to get to the point. "No, I am not."

"That is what Sabine assures me as well," Ursa said. "But I wonder. I am not sure that I have seen two young people so close to one another, and yet not be linked romantically."

Ezra sighed, hoping Ursa would accept the answer. "We are close. It was difficult being separated from Sabine for so many months. She is the closest friend I've ever had, and yet, some days..." He winced, unsure of where he had been going with that statement.

"Hmm, then Sabine has never returned your deeper affections?"

Somehow the Countess' directness gave Ezra a little more bravery. "That's… that's a rather polite way of saying it. She turned me down cold. Repeatedly. I uhh… Know better than to try now."

"That's nonsense," Ursa said briskly.

There were many things Ezra could have imagined Ursa saying. That, however, was not one of them. "I don't think I..."

"Ezra Bridger, you have deceived yourself into believing that what is will always be; that things never change." Ursa looked away from the musicians to face Ezra. "The way forward is yours to discover, naturally, but I believe there are paths open to you." Ursa had an amused grin on her face.

Ezra raised an eyebrow. Was Sabine's mother really saying what he thought she was? It was true that Sabine had seemed a little different since their reunion. Less reserved, perhaps, especially since they had destroyed the Duchess. But what Ursa was implying? "I'll... consider what you've said," The Redalur'oya continued, now in a somber canto. A lone woman sang mournfully, and the crowd seemed to have drawn tighter around the musicians and dancers.

"Very good." Ursa said, "Now, may I ask you for a favor, Ezra Bridger.."

"Of... Of course. Anything within reason." Ezra said suspiciously.

"Have no fear, this favor is more for Sabine than it is for me," she said smiling. "The final canto of the Redalur'oya is the Cyare'dala; in Basic, it is the Beloved Woman. When Sabine agreed to join Tristan, I suspect she had forgotten about the Cyare'dala. She would have been too young to participate in the ending the last time she took part."

"Okay..." Ezra said slowly, waiting for her to reach the point.

"During the Cyare'dala the men and married women leave the floor, leaving only eligible women. It is a song celebrating family and the young women who will give birth to the next generation of Mandalorians. A song about the future, and the love that gives birth to it. At the appointed time, eligible suitors seek permission to join the women, and each woman must choose a partner for the dance. Sabine, being my daughter, will have many young men try to join her. Of course, there is no significance to any of this, other than some old superstitious nonsense, but Sabine will not be happy when she realizes the situation she has put herself in."

No, Sabine wouldn't be happy at all, Ezra thought. He didn't imagine she would enjoy having to perform this little Mandalorian dance ritual or whatever it was with a complete stranger. He had hoped that she would be in a good mood later tonight. So much for that, he thought gloomily.

"Are you a fast learner Ezra Bridger?" Ursa asked carefully.

"Umm... Maybe? I don't really..." Ezra stammered, as the point suddenly started to dawn on him. "Wait you're not..."

There was a round of cheering as the Redalur'oya suddenly shifted to upbeat music, and several dancers slipped in the transition. "It will take the musicians about ten minutes to reach the final canto. I suspect steps in a dance are not so different than your lightsaber forms, and the Cyare'dala is deliberately simple."

Ezra's head swam. This was not what he had envisioned for the evening."Why?" he asked simply.

"Because my daughter will enjoy performing the Cyare'dala with you far more than any of the other young men in the room." Ursa's eyes twinkled with the hint of a smile. "And I suspect it will be the high point of the evening for you too. Now we really must move to another room if you are to learn the steps."

Ezra nodded. What had he just agreed to...?

Sabine was enjoying herself. The Redalur'oya reminded her of simpler times; times spent with Tristan learning about her people. Before the Academy and Empire ruined everything. The thought made her miss a step, and she bumped into Tristan. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders at him.

Her only regret was that Ezra could only watch, that he couldn't share in this part of the evening. She was glad that he got to see this part of her heritage, though. It may not be her home anymore, but it was where she came from, and it would always be part of her. Sabine had noticed him standing with her mother at the back. Hopefully, she was explaining the significance of each canto to him, so that he could appreciate how much more there was to Mandalore than just fighting.

Later Sabine glanced back and realized that the two were gone and she couldn't lay eyes on them anywhere in the room. That's odd, she thought to herself, wondering where they went.

The Redalur'oya was nearly over. Sabine was pleased that after all these years she had remembered the steps so well and had made so few mistakes. She thought ahead to what was next... And then it hit her. The Cyare'dala. She knew the steps, of course. All young Mandalorian women learn them, but she had always been too young to join in.

She groaned as she realized what was about to happen. As the Countess's daughter, every available bachelor from each clan present would try to be her partner for the Cyare'dala. She would be the center of attention, something she detested. Worse, the other young women would be ignored, which would humiliate them.

Several curses flowed freely through Sabine's mind, the kind that would get her in trouble with Hera. She knew she would have to accept one of the suitors or else embarrass her mother. Oh, how had she been so stupid? She thought about just walking away to look for Ezra, to hide and deal with the consequences later, but the music was already beginning to shift. Most of the warriors had already cleared the floor. There were only three women left with her, and Sabine felt every eye on her.

Sabine began the steps mechanically, droid-like and with no grace. The first part was for the women alone. Then there would be a pause, and the drama would start. She closed her eyes and wished desperately that it would all go away. But it didn't. The music slowed and waited for the next phase, and she sighed and let out the breath she'd been holding. May as well get it over with, Sabine thought darkly as she turned to look at the crowd.

She nearly jumped when she turned and was suddenly face to face with Ezra. He winked and said the proper phrase in perfectly accented Mando'a. "Vercopa vi redalur" This... This made absolutely no sense.

"Elek," Sabine said softly, hoping Ezra knew what he was doing. Dimly she noticed that he wore wrist armor, the only piece required for this canto. Where had that come from? Where had he learned the proper phrase? And now here he was going through the steps with her perfectly. How was this possible?

Her mother. There was no other answer. Her mother had been plotting with Ezra against Sabine the whole time and... Sabine stopped that thought short. No, that wasn't right at all. They'd thrown her a safety line. There was only one person in the room she'd be comfortable doing this with, and somehow, impossibly he was here with her during the Cyare'dala. And her mother had known this.

She stirred from her musings and looked at Ezra and smiled. "I don't know what's going on, Ezra, but... Thank you," she whispered to him. He just smiled that big dumb grin and winked again.

Sabine laughed and tried to enjoy the rest of the canto. There was a part of her that found it awkward dancing with Ezra, even though this was by no means an intimate dance. The Cyare'dala kept it's participants at arm's length, as it often forced complete strangers to dance together. So it wasn't that she was particularly close to Ezra physically, it was just... She knew the superstitions behind the dance, and she desperately hoped her mother hadn't told Ezra about them.

And then there was another part of her that realized that a switch had been thrown somewhere in her mind, and Sabine knew that there wasn't any going back. No matter how much she tried to ignore it, something had changed. Hera was right; all those years ago, she had been right. Ezra had grown up, as had she, and the age difference meant nothing to her now. Ezra was still Ezra, but somehow that fact was more exciting than it used to be. This was... This was something she was going to have to think about. Later, thankfully, as the Redalur'oya had finally come to its end.

Sabine took a step back from Ezra as the music stopped and the warriors cheered. She was trying her absolute best not to blush or turn and run or... something. So she just smiled sheepishly. Ezra's smile was equally timid, thankfully. "Let's... let's get out of here," Sabine said. "There's going to be drinking, and it's going to get rowdy now and... Let's just find someplace to talk."

"Sabine, you just read my mind," Ezra said.

"That's a first," she laughed.

Sabine led Ezra to Alrich's library, a quiet place filled with data chips and actual physical books, something Ezra had only seen once or twice in his life. A great window looked out over the forests of Krownest. Snow was falling softly while moonlight spilled through holes in the clouds. There was a long comfortable couch in front of a small table, and Ezra sat at one end of the couch. Sabine left the library to get them some caf.

What a day, he thought dully. Participating in some weird Mandalorian dance ritual with Sabine was not something he had imagined when he woke up that morning. He had seen the way she had lit up too; had felt her relief through the Force when he was there in her moment of need. Ezra was pretty sure that it was more than just relief, but he wasn't quite sure how to name those emotions that had come pouring out of Sabine. Maybe, just maybe…

Sabine returned with two cups of caf. He accepted one gratefully, as she sat at the other end of the couch leaned against the armrest and turned to face him.

"So how'd you do it?" Sabine asked. "I know my mother was involved."

Ezra sighed; of course, she'd want to know. "Your mother thought you might prefer a friendly face, so she took me to a side room for lessons. I had less than ten minutes to learn the steps."

Sabine laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"What's so funny?" Ezra asked confused.

"I'm just trying to imagine my mother teaching you to dance. Look, I've seen a lot of strange things and lived through circumstances I couldn't imagine, but in a thousand lifetimes I never would have thought that my mother would teach you the Cyare'dala."

"Yeah, that was one of the more terrifying experiences of my life. I hope... I hope you're not mad, that we... I hope I didn't overreach," Ezra said cautiously. He was still terrified that he had made a mistake in joining her.

"Nonsense, Ezra, you were perfect. I'd rather dance with you than some... random sleemo that's only interested because I'm the Countesses' daughter." She smiled and then looked out the window.

Yes, Ezra thought, there was definitely something different here, but she was trying to suppress it and put the lid back on. Very well Sabine Wren, he thought, I'm a patient man. I can wait a little longer. "Oh, and Sabine," he said softly.

"Mmhmm?" Sabine said as she took a sip of her caf.

"Let's not tell Kanan about this?"

She laughed. "Fine. And we are definitely not telling Hera. Now get to storytelling; what all happened to you guys while I was gone?"

"Okay let's see, how about when we thought Kallus was compromised, so I let myself get captured," Ezra said proudly.

"A plan that bad had to have been one of yours," Sabine said with a wry smile. They talked long into the wee hours of the morning, catching up on all their missed time.

Early the next morning Kanan walked into the Great Hall irritated. Neither of the younger Specters had returned to the ship the previous night. Sabine's absence made sense, this was her home after all, but Ezra? Kanan hoped he hadn't done anything to embarrass himself or Sabine's family. If he had drunk himself sick and ended up passed out in some corner, there were going to be serious consequences.

"Good Morning, Master Jedi." Alrich Wren said approaching Kanan. "I trust you are well this morning?"

"I am. We've enjoyed your family's hospitality, but need to get back to the Alliance soon. Have you seen Ezra this morning?"

"Oh, indeed I have," Alrich said, the force swirling mischievously around him. "I just checked on Ezra and Sabine a few minutes ago, and it seems they are still asleep."

"Wait, what?" Kanan said much louder than he meant to. If those two... Clearly, there had been lots of drinking going on last night.

Alrich chuckled "Ursa jumped to the same wrong conclusion. They merely fell asleep in my library last night. Probably up too late talking. Come, allow me to show you."

Kanan had never been so relieved in his life. That was not the kind of drama he was prepared to deal with. Alrich led him to another part of the Wren Stronghold and gestured to a door. "There," he said, "is your apprentice and my daughter."

Kanan cautiously opened the door. There on a couch lay Sabine and Ezra asleep and propped on opposite sides, their boots and Sabine's armor plates neatly stacked on the floor. Kanan noticed that Sabine had a smile on her face, even in her sleep, and her feet rested on one of Ezra's calves.

Kanan smiled and backed out the door. "Kids," he said with a shrug at Alrich. "I guess they just passed out where they were. We can give them another hour." Suddenly Kanan had an idea. "And only another hour. If they aren't up by then, I think we make a little bit of a scene."

Alrich laughed, "Master Jedi, you have just read my mind."

"Needless to say, I heard the whole story," Hera says as they finish. "And Sabine and I had a delightful talk about Ezra."

Sabine laughs. "I thought I was going to die from embarrassment."

Jacen just shakes his head, but Hera can see he enjoyed the story. "Okay, that was better. It was romantic at least, but it still wasn't a date. It was a public dance, ceremony, thing..."

"It sounded beautiful," Mira adds dreamily from his side.

"Hmm," Ezra says thoughtfully looking at his daughter. "Maybe we should contact your grandmother to make sure she has musicians ready for the next time we visit her." Mira smiles.

"What I don't get," Jacen asks Sabine, "is how you two didn't end up together before Ezra disappeared? The way you describe it, you guys were right on the brink."

Hera sees the thoughtful look in Sabine's eye. "We were, but I took too long to think things through, and Ezra was too patient. The truth is we just ran out of time. It was only a few weeks later that we left for Lothal. And then that was it, history rushed on and then Ezra was gone."

"It was probably for the best that we never had our heart to heart before I left," Ezra says quietly. "I can't imagine how hard it would have been on either of us had we really expressed our feelings. If we'd done so and then been separated for seven years..." He lets the thought hang in the air. The only sound is the crackle of the fire.

"A mercy," Hera says. "A severe mercy, but one all the same. Fate can be a strange thing." She thinks of Lillia beside her and how she and Alexandr met, how his greatest shame had brought him to his greatest joy. The Force wrought strange fates indeed.

Suddenly there is a commotion from the house and Zeb emerges triumphantly with both arms raised above his head. The old clones follow laughing heartily, followed by a clearly dejected Kallus.

"Has it finally happened?" Ezra asks.

"Let it be known!" Zeb bellows. "That Alexandr Kallus has lost at Sabacc. Garazeb Orrelios has defeated his foe. And he's keeping the money!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: Alright here's my Mando'a translations.
> 
> Shig: An infused beverage. Tea would work here.  
> Tihaar: Strong, clear alcoholic drink.  
> Redalur'oya: Compound word I invented. Redalur is Dance. Oya, literally "lets hunt" but can mean a more general Cheer!  
> Cyare'dala: Exactly as Ursa said: Beloved Woman. Pronounced Shaw-ray-Dah-lah.  
> Vercopa vi redalur: Literally "I hope we dance." I'm sure my grammar was abysmal so imagine that it's a REALLY old statement with archaic grammar. More generally I'd interpret it as hopefully asking for permission to dance.  
> Elek: Yes. An affirmative
> 
> For the next chapter coming up, I'll recommend that you have read my other work, Guardian of Lothal. It's not required, but the next chapter takes place in that time period and references a few things. Plus if you HAVE read Guardian of Lothal, you'll be in a for a special treat the next few chapters... ;)


	5. Promises, Past and Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Not much to say here, other than I would recommend you read my story Guardian of Lothal if you want to fill in the timeline I'm sticking to in this. Please Enjoy!

It takes quite a bit of time for the commotion to die down. The men are still telling the dramatic tale of how Kallus was finally defeated at Sabaac. He sulks a bit at first but is being a good sport about it. Sabine has taken Caleb into the house to put him and Hanah to bed.

Hera comms Chop to tell him to keep an eye on them and he beeps sadly. "Yes Chop, Hanah has to go to bed. It's late for her." She shakes her head at the comm as Chopper warbles another sad acknowledgment. She would  _never_  get used to that. By the time Sabine returns, the clones are yawning and complaining about old men needing sleep.

"Alright, Geezers, in the speeder," Zeb says gesturing over his shoulder. "Let's go." Kallus sits by his wife. They share a look briefly, and then Lillia laughs and pats his knee. Hera smiles to herself. She's always loved watching the small interactions between these two.

Jacen clears his throat. "Alright Sabine, at this point I'm invested, and I have to hear how this ends. I've haven't forgotten your promise to Ezra in your very first story about going on a real date. Please tell me you guys follow through and go back to that same place once he gets back."

Sabine is sitting beside Ezra. "Well of course," she says looking at her husband affectionately. "But we're still not quite there yet."

Jacen sighs. "I should have known. Honestly, though I don't know what else there is to tell; shortly after the last story Ezra disappears into Unknown Space."

Sabine winks. "Just stick with me, okay?"

* * *

_**Promises, Past and Future** _

Sabine's speeder bike raced across the plains of Lothal. She pushed it's engine, enjoying the sense of speed, especially when she crested a hill and felt the brief moments of weightlessness. Disappointedly she realized she'd be at her destination soon. Sabine decided to find more time to enjoy Lothal's wide open grasslands, but she was busy enough these days that she didn't know when that would happen.

It had been almost two years since they had freed Lothal, and a lot had happened in that time, both on Lothal and in the galaxy abroad. The Alliance had destroyed the Death Star and become a serious threat to the Empire as more and more people rallied to their cause. And Lothal? Well, Lothal was quietly rebuilding itself. At the furthest reaches of the Outer Rim, it was quiet, too far away for the Empire to bother with in its current situation. Sabine had stayed to help Lothal, Ezra's home. Rhyder was keeping her busy, and she had projects of her own as well. Today though, today she was taking for herself.

She crested the final hill and saw her destination in the distance: Town 12. Like much of Lothal, Town 12 had struggled in the final days of the Empire's rule on Lothal as Governor Pryce had squeezed the population to the point of breaking. Some settlements had been burned to the ground. Town 12 had been lucky in that respect, Sabine realized; that they had been spared when so many others had perished was a miracle.

Sabine pulled her speeder bike up and parked it behind the same building she and Ezra had all those years ago. A cold feeling settled in the pit of her stomach, and for a moment she almost got back on her bike. She'd gotten over the initial depression caused by Ezra's absence months ago and had no intentions of going back. There were too many people counting on her now.

Sabine stood there for a moment staring down the road into town, and then in a moment made up her mind. She walked down the road; the path etched into her mind. Here is where they saw the stormtroopers, so she diverted onto a side street. At this spot, they saw the next squad of troopers. And here...

She stood in front of a squat building that looked like any of the others in town except for its glowing neon sign advertising food. Sabine looked quietly at the door for a moment as various contradictory thoughts chased each other through her mind. She entertained each for a moment then pushed them all aside and then walked in.

Her eyes adjusted to the light and looked around the old establishment. Sabine had deliberately come in the middle of the afternoon, hoping that there would be few other customers. The place felt so familiar to her, even though she had only been here once. She never imagined it would have become such an important place in her heart. She walked to the booth she and Ezra had sat in all those years ago and took a seat. Sabine glanced at the menus in their holder but didn't bother to pick it up. She remembered what she had ordered.

A Quarren woman, the waitress on duty, walked over to her. "I hope you're having a nice afternoon. What can I get for you today?"

Sabine smiled softly and said, "Two Choco-cafs please."

The woman tapped a few buttons on her datapad. "Luckily for you, we managed to get in our first shipment of chocolate in several years."

"Oh I didn't realize you hadn't been able to get it," Sabine said carefully "I guess it makes sense with how bad things were on Lothal for so long. I'm glad you're able to get it again. A friend introduced me to the drink here years ago, and... Well, I guess I'm feeling a little sentimental today. Wanted to remember old times." Sabine looked quietly at the table, realizing she had just started spilling randomly to a stranger.

The waitress smiled behind her tentacled face. "I thought I recognized you. Let me go get you that drink. I suspect the young man won't be joining you today, so how about I just get you one for now."

Sabine eyed the waitress as she walked away. That was odd. It was common for citizens of Lothal to recognize her in public, but this seemed different. And how did she know that Ezra wouldn't be joining her? She thought back to her first time here and then another memory from years ago clicked into place. It was the same waitress as that day so long ago.

"Well, Ezra," she whispered to the man that wasn't present. "I'm here. Just like I promised. I know, I know we freed Lothal two years ago, but I kept hoping you'd show back up quickly, and I've been really busy. Between Rhyder, my art, and now an orphanage of all things, my schedule is pretty tight. Yeah, you heard me right. An orphanage. It's... It's a long story."

"Hera should be coming to Lothal in a few weeks. She and Jacen are... I guess you haven't met Jacen either." Suddenly Sabine teared up. Oh, how she hated that. She'd managed to avoid it for nearly a year now, but now tears ran down her face as she frantically tried to wipe them away. "I'm here, Ezra," she whispered again. "You wanted a real date, and you haven't come back yet, so I decided to go ahead and come just in case... But you will come back, and we'll have all the dates your goofy little heart could possibly..." She trailed off. This was pointless.

And then she realized that the waitress was standing there with her drink. Sabine sighed, mortified that a complete stranger had seen that, and wiped the tears away. She looked up but couldn't quite look the woman in the eye. "Sorry, that was... I'm sorry."

The Quarren sat Sabine's drink down. "It sounds like you could use someone to talk to, someone that can actually answer. Mind if I join you?"

Sabine stared at the drink. "I couldn't ask you to do that; aren't you on duty? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

The waitress laughed and sat across from Sabine. "My husband owns the cafe. I can do as I please. Besides it's the middle of the afternoon, and you're my only customer. And what I see is a young woman in need of a friend. My name's Tahreen, by the way."

Sabine nodded unsure if she really wanted to take this kind stranger up on her offer. "Sabine Wren," she said quietly.

Tahreen smiled at the young Mandalorian. "Yes. I know who you are."

Of course, you do, Sabine though grimly, everyone on this planet knows who I am now.

The woman seemed to peer at Sabine. "Hmm I know what you're thinking, but I've known your name for many years. You see, some number of years ago, a boy and a girl came into my cafe early one evening. I thought them an odd couple from the moment they stepped in the door. A boy with brilliant blue eyes and a girl in pink Mandalorian armor. They ordered the most expensive drink on the menu and proceeded to spend the next hour or so arguing, laughing, and in general being teenagers."

Well that was Ezra and her alright Sabine thought, but she didn't think they'd made that much noise for the waitress to remember them so many years later.

"At first I thought that surely they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But as I the hour went I on, I realized that couldn't be the case, though it was clear that the boy thought the world of the girl. It was sweet watching them, and I hoped that one day the girl would soften to him."

Sabine raised an eyebrow impressed. "I'm surprised you remember that so well."

"I wouldn't normally, but the next day I saw a wanted poster with both your pictures. There was no mistaking you two, and it seemed the Empire thought you were dangerous criminals." Tahreen looked thoughtful for a moment. "Over the next few years, I would occasionally see your faces again on the local holo-news. Terrorists. Murderers, the Empire declared, but I knew better. I kept hoping that I would never hear the news that the Empire caught you and executed you both."

"And then two years ago you returned, and miraculously dealt with the Garrison, the Dome, and the 7th Fleet in one swift stroke. An impossible thing had happened, and there were your faces on the holo-news again. Only this time it wasn't the Empire doing the broadcasting but loyal sons and daughters of Lothal proclaiming you the heroes that you were."

"We all wept for the fate of the Hero of Lothal, Ezra Bridger. But I see that the people of Lothal aren't the only ones mourning his loss," she said carefully, looking at Sabine.

"He's not dead," Sabine said defiantly.

"I don't claim to know either way," Tahreen said. "But I do see a young woman that didn't need to be alone today. So here I am."

Sabine smiled suddenly grateful to this stranger. "Thanks, I... I appreciate it. I've always been a very private person so crying in public is a bit embarrassing."

"There's no shame in showing grief. Now, what brought you here today, if I may ask? I don't think you wandered in on accident."

Sabine laughed. "Years ago when you saw us, Ezra had the biggest crush on me, and I thought he was an annoying kid at the time. Well actually he  _was_ an annoying kid at the time, and I was little better. And somehow or another, that day we made a goofy deal. I'm not even really sure why I did it at the time; probably just to see how he would react. I promised that if we freed Lothal, we'd come back here on a real date."

Tahreen smiled softly at Sabine but didn't say anything or interrupt.

"So here I am years later. We both grew up. Freed Lothal. And... and now I miss him." The tears came back, but this time she didn't care. "I miss him so much..." The women were quiet for a few minutes as tears quietly flowed down Sabine's face.

"The worst part," Sabine whispered, "is that I never told him that all his stupid patience paid off. That that big dumb grin was the best part of my life. That I... That I..." She spit out a stronger curse than she meant and quickly apologized to Tahreen. "And now's he's gone. Gone who knows where."

"Did he know where he was going?" Tahreen asked Sabine gently.

"Sounded like it from the message he left us," Sabine said bitterly. "He seemed to think he'd come home too but that sure hasn't happened yet."

"And do you trust this young man?" the other woman asked.

That snapped Sabine out of it almost immediately. She straightened, and the tears stopped. "Absolutely and with every fiber of my being."

"Hmm..." the Quarren hummed softly. "May I tell you a story, Ms. Wren?"

"Be my guest," Sabine with a shrug, gesturing for her to go on.

"My people, the Quarren, share a world with the Mon Calamari, two sentient species from the same oceanic world. The Mon Calamari kept to the shallows and the shore. Friendly to outsiders, a knack for engineering, and a desire to the see the stars, they have been the face of our world to the galaxy at large. The Quarren lived in the deeps in cities far beneath the waves, places where the light is dim. We are an aggressive people and brought grief to our homeworld during the Clone Wars. We were forgiven, but actions have consequences, and many Quarrens live in poverty and squalor because of what happened. Our shallow water neighbors no longer trusted us, and who could blame them?"

"The Quarren I loved was a good man, but he did not want to raise a family in the depths, unable to see the blue sky of day or the stars at night. And so he came to me and said that there was something he had to do. He asked me if I trusted him, and I said I would trust him until the oceans were dry. He held my hands and promised me that he would return, and then he left."

"At the time I did not know where he had gone. I feared he had done something drastic or dishonorable. What he actually did was more desperate. I would later learn that my love had stowed away aboard a shipment of ore mined from the depths of the ocean. He had nearly frozen to death before he reached the orbital station. Somehow he transferred to an actual passenger ship at the station and ended up on Lothal. He lived on the streets of Capitol City for nearly a year working odd jobs and saving money."

"Finally, he was able to get a good job, here at this cafe, helping its previous owner keep the books and manage his business affairs. With income and a home secured at last here in Town 12, he returned to Mon Calamari for me. I hadn't seen him in well over a year and each night was an endless stream of nightmares, wondering if he still lived and would truly come back. But I trusted him and I waited."

"And then he returned to me and took me from the dark depths of Mon Cala. I had never seen the sky before, never seen the stars and they were a wonder to me. He brought me to Lothal, and I nearly cried over how beautiful it's grasslands were. That day he gave me this." Tahreen pulled a necklace from a beneath her shirt and showed it to Sabine. It had a large wooden charm, intricately carved, hanging from the chain. "I had no clue what it was at the time."

Sabine had seen these charms worn by Lothalians once or twice, always close to its owner, but had never thought much about them. "I don't think I know what it is either, though now you've got me curious," she admitted to the Quarren. She wished she could examine the carved trinket up close but had enough sense not to ask.

"I'm sorry, with how long you've been around Lothal I assumed you knew what it was. It's a Lothalian Chakadi. It's a wedding present. The custom goes that when you decide in your heart that you will marry a person, you begin to carve the Chakadi. It's made from the root of certain bush that grows in the shadows of the rock spires here on Lothal. The root of this bush is harder and denser than durasteel. It takes a specialized plasma knife to carve its surface. Both the difficulty of carving and the near indestructibility of the Chakadi are meant to symbolize the finality of the decision; Lothalians do not normally divorce. As the tradition goes, one works on the Chakadi from the time they make their decision to the actual day of their marriage, when they exchange vows and give their spouse the Chakadi they have been carving."

Sabine nodded and smiled. "That's... That's a really cool tradition," she said appreciatively, wishing again that she could see Tahreen's Chakadi up close. "Are they all carved alike or are they unique?" The artist in her was falling in love with the idea already.

Tahreen fingered her Chakdi again. "They are all as unique as the people that carve them. Some are more intricate and artistic, some simple and geometric. It depends on both the skill of the carver and the length of time they spent on the Chakadi. My husband started this one a few weeks after he first came to Lothal, as a sign that this would be our new home and that we would adopt its ways. He worked on it for over a year and gave it to me the day he brought me to Lothal. We were married that day. Now we own this cafe and raise our children here on Lothal, children you helped free from the Empire."

Tahreen paused for a minute. Sabine sat still unsure what she was supposed to say. The Quarren continued. "The Quarren have a belief in what we call the Undercurrent. The Undercurrent is the guiding principle in the Universe that moves beneath the visible surface of the world. It pulls people and things in the proper directions according to some grand design that can be hard to see and fathom. I suspect you believe in the Force, as you have spent time around Jedi, and the Undercurrent is not a dissimilar belief. "

"The Undercurrent brought my Love back to me and honored my trust in him." Tahreen paused for a moment and then looked Sabine in the eye. "Ms. Wren, I do not know if your Ezra will return to you. I don't claim to be one of the fabled Current Seers that could see the future or a Jedi that knows the Force, but I do believe that the Undercurrent will honor your trust and love for Ezra Bridger. How it will do so, you shall have to wait and see."

Sabine wiped away the tears that this stranger had brought back to her face. While she didn't know if the Quarrens belief that the Undercurrent or Force would somehow make things right was accurate or not, she was thankful for the sentiment behind it. But the more she thought about it, the more she felt somewhere deep in her bones that there was some truth to it.

The universe  _was_  ordered in a way that made sense. Kanan calmy going to his death to save the woman he loved and his unborn child. Alexandr Kallus and Garazeb Orrelios, dire enemies until closest of friends. Ezra sacrificing himself for his home, his people, but trusting her to watch his home and wait for his return. These things  _weren't_  accidents. In fact, in some way, they seemed appropriate. Right.

Sabine's resolve hardened to durasteel; she would wait for Ezra's return, and only death would drive her from that duty. This was her place in the story, her place in the galaxy.

Sabine looked back Tahreen. "Thank you I... I needed this today." She laughed at herself. "I must have been in a melodramatic mood to come here today because there was no way I was getting out of here without a bit of crying."

Tahreen smiled. "I'm glad I got the chance to meet and talk to you, Sabine Wren. You've done much for this world and my family." She looked at a chrono on the wall. "In fact in a few minutes, an employee will come in to take over for me. Would you be interested in meeting my family and perhaps share a meal with us? I know my husband would love a chance to thank you as well."

Sabine thought for a moment, then accepted graciously. It wouldn't hurt to gain a few new friends on this world. It  _was_ her home now. "That sounds great actually. But, Tahreen, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," the Quarren woman said graciously.

"Where does one find the root that Chakadis are carved from?"

* * *

"I'm not even going to try and tell you that going back to the Cafe without Ezra wasn't a date, but why did you spoil the story by mentioning the Chakadi again at the end? That could have been a great surprise." Jacen asks, disappointed. Hera can see that at this point he's totally hooked and wants to hear how this plays out.

Sabine cocks an eyebrow and looks at the fire. It had burnt low, and Kallus stood to get another synth log. "Look," Sabine says, "anyone even halfway following along at this point would know where that story thread goes next. So I thought it worked well to lead you on to the next story. Keep you waiting in anticipation."

"Or maybe she'll tell the next story from Ezra's point of view and use dramatic irony to good effect," Kallus says thoughtfully as he places the log on the fire and sits back down.

Everyone stares at him for a moment before Lillia laughs and pats his knee. She's used to him over analyzing everything.

"Right..." Jacen says, not convinced.

"Hey, here's where it gets good though," Ezra says to Jacen, that goofy look on his face.

"Why is that?" Jacen asks his uncle.

"Because I come back into the story." Sabine elbows Ezra hard enough to make him  _oof_  and he complains about how unnecessary that was. Sabine leans over and kisses his face, and he brightens. Mira covers her eyes and screams, "Ewww Mom! Don't do that; kisses are gross!"

They all share a laugh, and Hera smiles contentedly. These family moments are treasures she holds close to her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're still enjoying.  
> The next chapter is my FAVORITE.  
> Do you want me to go full fairy tale? Because I will, and I love it.  
> Again I'll recommend that you read Guardian of Lothal before the next chapter.  
> Not required but it gives more context...


	6. The Break of Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes my favorite chapter...

Zeb is back now after making sure the clones have made it home safe. He sits by the fire and stretches his arms. "We about at the end of this tour of Ezra and Sabine's love life yet? Cause I had to live a lot of this and I really don't need to relive all the teenage hormones." He punches Ezra in the arm.

"What is it with everyone hitting me tonight?!" Ezra practically shouts rubbing his arm.

"Because it's fun," Sabine smiling sweetly at Ezra. She elbows him in the ribs again.

"Stop," he practically whines. Mira giggles and Zeb lets out a hearty laugh.

"Actually, Zeb," Hera says trying to reign things back in, "We've gotten past all the teenage stuff. I think Sabine was about to tell Jacen about their actual marriage now."

Jacen looks at his mother then at Sabine. "All I want to know is if it involves a date, or if you've just been stringing me along for hours now for the fun of it."

Sabine laughs. "Look there's not a date involved in the marriage, but I promise there's one afterward." She clears her throat. "First off Zeb, you said earlier that we got married the day after I found Ezra. It was more like a couple of weeks till our vows."

"Details, details," Zeb says rolling his eyes.

"Important details," Sabine says icily. "If you think I was going to say my vows to my husband on a Star Destroyer you're kidding yourself. When Ahsoka and I caught up with the Chimera, they were only a few weeks out from finally reaching the Chiss homeworld of Csilla."

"Oh, you know what, I do actually like this one," Zeb says, nodding in approval. Hera stares at him in surprise. Zeb can apparently feel her eyes on him because he shrugs. "So I'm a bit of a romantic in my old age. Say what you want, but there was very little romantic about these two until this point. I stand by what I said about teenage hormones earlier."

"Yeah, whatever Zeb, Let them tell the story already," Jacen says impatiently. Hera covers her mouth so that her son doesn't see her stifling a laugh. She looks at Lillia who raises an eyebrow in amusement. Jacen doesn't realize just how into the story he is.

Ezra nods. "I know you've all heard the story, but when the 7th fleet came out of hyperspace, we were lost. We knew what corner of the galaxy we were in and that was about it. It took us those seven years to chart out the area and work our way towards the Chiss Ascendency. And then, of course, there were our pursuers..."

"Which is another story," Sabine interrupts, "that we aren't getting into tonight. Now then, On to Csillia..."

* * *

 

_**The Break of Dawn** _

Csilla was cold Sabine thought bitterly. Very cold. And she'd assumed she would be used to it growing up on Krownest, but she was very very wrong. Krownest was quite livable in the temperate latitudes, even with minimal protective gear. But Csilla was a different level of miserable entirely. Sabine had thought she was going to freeze during the night even though the room was supposedly heated. She'd piled every blanket she could find on top of her just to stop shivering. She'd wondered how Ezra was handling it, having grown up on warm and sunny Lothal.

The Chiss homeworld Csillia was covered in glaciers and locked in an ice age that had lasted for several millennia already with no end in sight. Long ago, the Chiss had moved underground, both to help conserve energy and to avoid the inherent nuisance of the creeping and shifting glaciers

The enormous Palace of Travelers, however, was above the ground. The Chiss knew that the few visitors they the entertained in their obscure corner of the galaxy were rarely comfortable in their underground cities, so they had built an imposing structure of stone upon a high mountain ridge. The Chimera had arrived two days ago, its crew exhausted and weary from their years of journey. The few remaining ex-Imperials were easily housed within the cavernous halls of the Palace of Travelers, alongside Ahsoka and Sabine's crew.

And Thrawn? No one had seen him since they had arrived. Apparently, he was several days into giving a report to the Chiss Aristocra on the previous decade's events. Until he finished, they had no plans other than to recuperate from their journey.

Sabine pulled a heated parka on over her armor, then a pair of heated pants, and finally the enormous overboots. Then she strapped Ezra's lightsaber, her lightsaber to her belt. She had tried to return his lightsaber to him, but he had refused adamantly shaking his head.

"I had Chopper give it to you for a reason. I'm more than happy with the one I've built since then.

The symbolism of such a gift wasn't lost on Sabine.

She carefully opened the door to her room and looked down the dark marble hallway. No one was stirring yet, as dawn was still nearly an hour off. Sabine wondered what had possessed her to suggest she and Ezra get up to see the sunrise; if the temperature inside was bad, the temperature outside would be unbearable.

Then Sabine smiled; she knew the extra effort would be worth it. This was going to be the day, as far as she was concerned. Their day. After two weeks it had come. She fingered the Chakadi in her pocket, the Chakadi she had been carving for Ezra for the last five years. Unable to help herself, she drew it out to look at the familiar trinket. "After today you'll belong to someone else, I hope," she said thoughtfully. She had carved the root into a version of her Starbird, naturally, but as intricate and complex a one as she had ever designed. She had slowly hollowed it, turning its outer surface into an intricate lattice of hundreds of interconnected webs. Sabine had put a few finishing touches on it last night, and at last, she was satisfied.

Sealing the Chakadi back in her pocket, Sabine slipped quietly down the hall toward the main lobby of the palace. In the quiet predawn hours, every footstep reverberated off the reflective walls. She winced hoping she wasn't waking half the palace.

Ezra was already waiting for her when she reached the front entrance. He stood there smiling, similarly attired in ridiculously thick clothes and holding two heated canteens of Caf. "Ezra Bridger, do you always know what I'm thinking?" she whispered as she embraced him in a warm hug. The extra layer of clothing made the hug extra fluffy, and Sabine tried not to laugh.

"Sabine I will never fully know what you're thinking," Ezra said with a wink.

"Hmm I don't know, you did this morning." She took the caf from him and greedily drank a mouthful. "Come on. We don't want to miss the dawn." She took his hand in hers as they walked out onto the frozen glaciers of Csillia.

It was still dark, and they had to use the lights on the hoods of their parkas. While the area around the Palace was tame and kept relatively safe, there was still plenty of ice to slip on in the dark. Sabine had picked the spot the day before, a promontory with a good view of the rising sun. It would take them most of the hour to hike there.

They said little during that hour. They had spoken so much in the last two weeks that Sabine felt they no longer had to. Each had said their say and listened in turn. There were no more doubts or misunderstandings between them, and only one final step to take. What remained until then was a sense that things were as they should be.

It had taken two weeks to get there. Sabine's greatest fear had been that Ezra would be a different man when she found him, that the goofy yet somehow always thoughtful young man might have become cold and distant. She was afraid that she would find Ezra and no longer know him; that the man she loved no longer existed. Sabine wasn't sure how her heart would have handled that.

He had changed, naturally; no one stays the same person after seven years, or even from one year to the next, but in that time he had become something a little better. Something, even more himself, something more Ezra Bridger. Sabine wasn't sure how to describe it. Perhaps he had just finished turning into the man he was destined to be. She hated that she'd missed so much of it.

Ezra had shared similar fears. Part of him had never been confident that Sabine's affections for him were secure, so when he disappeared into the unknown, doubt and insecurities had taken hold. He had spent seven years dealing with these thoughts, and it took more than a few kisses to push these aside.

They both had stories to tell too. Very longs ones. Ezra had to recount his journies in the dark with the 7th Fleet, how they were slowly whittled down to just the Chimera, desperately trying to find their way back to the Chiss Ascendency with the intel that might save Thrawn's people. There had been tensions on board the Chimaera for a long time, between the Jedi and the now ex-Imperials. In the end, the dangers of the unknown had made them brothers and Ezra had lost many comrades in the heart of Unknown Space.

Sabine also had much to tell Ezra, about the rebuilding of Lothal, the Death Stars, the fall of the Empire, the Orphanage, and more. He had marveled at all of it save for the rebuilt Lothal. "I've seen the shining white city in my visions so often." he had told her "I knew that if I followed through with my plan that it would come about. That was the choice the Force seemed to offer me, you know; If I left with the Fleet, Lothal would be saved for all time, and we might just save the Chiss too. But if I turned from that course and stayed on Lothal then... Then the empire would have finished what it started, and the Chiss would perish."

Ezra had looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry Sabine, but I had to choose others over you."

She had embraced him tightly. "Ezra if you had chosen me over the needs of billions I would have never forgiven you. You're a good man Ezra Bridger, and I love you for it."

And so now they hiked up the glaciers in comfortable silence, at peace with the past, and content in the knowledge that whatever the future held, they would be together. Hand in hand they crested the final ridge of ice to stand upon the top of the hill overlooking great valleys of grinding ice in every direction. The dark sky above had turned to slate grey as the dawn rapidly approached, and Sabine felt her heart rate began to spike. In fear? In anticipation? Perhaps some of both.

She watched as the horizon began to lighten and the world around them began to come alive with the light of day. Sabine stood by Ezra still gripping his hand and tried to speak. "Ezra, I..." Her words faltered now that they had come to the appointed time.

Ezra turned to face her and took her second hand, turning her toward him. "I know," he said softly. "There will be nothing to separate us ever again. I will follow you till the end now. Where you go, I will go."

Sabine shook her head, finding her courage. "No, I'll be the one following you. I've done my part. Lothal is safe and prosperous. You're not done out here. So until you finish, I'll be by your side." She smiled. "And then we'll go home."

Ezra looked out at the impending sunrise; the horizon had begun to yellow. "And where is that?" he asked, his voice soft and even.

Sabine reached out and traced the old scar on his cheek. She couldn't imagine his face without it. "Lothal, of course. It's the place we fought for, that Kanan died for, and it's people are awaiting your return. Where else would we go to rest when our work is done?"

Ezra looked at her again. "And Krownest and Mandalore?"

"Will always be part of me," she answered simply. She had had years to think about this, and her mind was set. "But you're part of me now too. And Lothal is your home until the day you die. So that is my home now too."

Ezra smiled softly at first and then radiantly as the light increased. At that moment the light of Csilla's sun breached the horizon, and a billion crystals of ice were lit in a dazzling array of color. Ezra reached out and placed a hand on Sabine's cheek, and she instinctively reached her hand up to press it's warmth to her face. Ezra leaned towards her and said in a low voice. "Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde."

Sabine's eyes went wide. She knew those words, had been expecting to hear them from Ezra today, but she had thought she would have to teach him the Mandalorian marriage vows. We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors. And here he spoke them in perfectly accented Mando'a. In fact, this reminded her a lot of when he had joined her in the Redalur'oya. If he hadn't been gone for seven years, she would have thought her mother had something to do with this. Maybe she still did. At the moment Sabine didn't care either way.

"Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde," she said looking into his sapphire eyes. And in the bright dawn of morning, she kissed the face of her husband. After a couple of minutes, she pulled away and smiled brightly at him. "Wait, I uh... I have something for you."

"Oh?" Ezra said surprised. "I didn't think there was anything else to Mandalorian marriage customs?"

"Of course there's not. I may be Mandalorian, but you're not." Sabine reached into her pocket and palmed the Chakadi she had worked on for so many years. Suddenly she was nervous again. "Since Lothal was my home for so long and will be our home someday, I thought I'd make something for you." She opened her palm and held it out to Ezra.

The look of surprise in his eye drove the last of her nervousness away. He carefully took the carved root and held it up to examine it closely. He laughed a bright and joyful sound and pulled Sabine close again. "Okay, I thought I was the only one with a surprise today. I never imagined you'd give me one of these, Sabine. It's amazing!"

"I hope so!" Sabine said with a grin. "I've spent five years working on it."

"Oh wow!" Ezra said. Sabine suddenly realized something was amiss. He'd said that a little too playfully... "Because I've been working on yours for seven years!" And with a flourish, he produced a small Starbird shaped Chakadi from his pocket. It wasn't nearly as detailed as Sabine's, but Ezra had smoothed the curves till they shined.

Sabine's mouth dropped open. "How...?" She stopped and thought it through. "You've been working on that since before you left. You'd decided I would be the one you'd marry all the way back..." She trailed off. She didn't know when exactly he'd started.

"As soon as we got back to Lothal," Ezra said grinning. "First morning at Rhyder's camp I dug around outside the perimeter till I found a root that would suit my needs."

Sabine cocked her head to the side and placed a hand on her hip. "That was mighty presumptive of you Loth-rat."

"Doesn't look like it to me, because I think I was right on the mark. I knew you couldn't resist my charms forever. After all, you did spend seven years pining for me! And after all the times you turned me down too."

Sabine looked at his insufferable grin and raised an eyebrow. "Alright, first a question. How did you know the vows?"

"What?" Ezra said, thrown by the sudden change of subject.

"The marriage vows. How did you know them?"

"Your dad. He gave me a datachip that had several volumes on Mandalorian culture before I left Krownest. He said that he thought I might need them before too long."

Okay so it wasn't her mother this time; it was her father. She'd have to thank him someday. "Okay curiosity sated. Put that Chakadi in your pocket and seal it." She followed her own advice and put her's away.

"Okay..." Ezra said, clearly unsure of what was going on. He obeyed.

The second his pocket was sealed Sabine tackled him to the snow, rolled him onto his stomach and pinned one of his arms behind his back. "That was for the being so presumptive," she said giving his arm another twist. Ezra yelped helplessly. "And this," she said rolling him over onto his back and kissing him long and deeply, "is for being right and for waiting on me for so many years."

Suddenly she felt herself lifted off of Ezra. How had he..? When she realized she was hovering just out of reach of the ground her face suddenly turned red, and she began to struggle. Ezra laughed and jumped to his feet. "Yeah I don't think that's how that works, but keep fighting like that; it's cute." He released Sabine before she anticipated it dropped her into the deep snow. Before she could recover and get to her feet, Ezra had leaped away like an agile loth-cat back down the hill towards the palace.

"That's right you better run, Jedi. This means war, and you know it!" The Mandalorian ran after him, hot on his heels in the bright light of the new day. And though they were far from their home on happy Lothal, they were at long last reunited, now and forever more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked me going full fairy tale. Cause I did. :D  
> Couple more chapters, this ride isn't quite done yet...


	7. Table for Three

Mira snuggles close to her mother's side. "I thought you didn't like kissing?" Sabine asks her playfully. "Because that last story  _definitely_  had some kissing."

Mira laughs but looks bashful. "It's okay when it's you and Daddy in a story."

"I'm glad to hear that because I love your Daddy, very  _very_ much." Sabine kisses Ezra right then and there in front of everyone. Mira sighs loudly, but she's smiling this time.

"I'm surprised," Kallus says thoughtfully. "I thought for sure you were going to tell the vows from Ezra's point of view and use dramatic irony with him not knowing about the Chakadi you made for him."

Sabine laughs. "I actually thought about it, and I had trouble deciding which way to go. From Ezra's point of view it had dramatic irony, but from my point of view there was the double surprise of the vows and him making a Chakadi for  _me._ "

Kallus nods in appreciation. "Well done, then, I think it turned out beautifully."

Jacen clears his throat "Alright, let's get this over with. At this point, I know you've just been leading me on for hours. Surely here at the end, there's an actual date, right? You guys have to go back to that cafe when you get back to Lothal. It's been like twelve or thirteen years now since you guys first went there at this point.

Hera chuckles to herself; no, Jacen certainly hadn't gotten what he wanted when he asked about Ezra and Sabine's first date, but maybe he's gotten something better with this healthy dose of Family history. "Well, Sabine," Hera says. "Are you ready to bring this home and stop stringing your nephew along?"

Sabine hugs Mira close, to her side and smiles. "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

**_Table for Three_ **

Nearly eight years spent in Unknown Space and Ezra was finally home. He only wanted two things: a chance to see his home rebuilt and rest after nearly a decade of travel. It seemed his people had something different in mind; parades and festivals where held in Capitol City in his honor. He would have been just fine without all the fanfare and attention. In his absence, Ezra had been dubbed the Hero of Lothal, an utterly ridiculous moniker as far as he was concerned. He was particularly horrified of the massive statue of himself in front of the Old Senate Building. Sabine had only laughed at him and told him she had provided the holo it was based on. "Betrayed by my own wife," he said sadly, looking up at the fifteen-meter tall statue of himself.

"Heh, I wasn't your wife at the time. Rhyder wanted a statue of all the Specters, and I was going to do anything to keep from being immortalized in stone. So yeah. I sold you out."

"Right, I bet you just wanted to be able to see me every day."

Sabine let the comment slide since he didn't know how painful it was for her to see the statue back then, but she did roll her eyes at him.

Ezra was happy when a month had passed, and the commotion had died down. He was very sure that he had kissed enough babies, met enough civic leaders, sat through enough banquets, and given more speeches than he felt was even remotely justified. But at last it was over, and Sabine and Ezra began to contemplate what life together after the Empire meant. Sabine slipped back into the habit of painting and reestablished her contacts in the world of fine art. Ezra spent several weeks working on an extensive report on the Unknown Regions for the New Republic. That finished, his main task was...?

He had no clue. One morning he told Sabine that for the first time in his life, Ezra Bridger had no mission. As a kid, it was steal enough food to eat. In the Rebellion it was save Lothal and topple the Empire. In the Unknown Regions, it was save the Chiss and come home to Sabine. Now he had no real direction.

"You'll figure it out," Sabine said giving him a quick kiss. "For now, just rest. You're home. You've got the rest of your life to worry about what to do with it." He'd grumbled a little but agreed. Life was good for those few weeks, except for a few niggling concerns.

First, shortly after they'd returned to Lothal, Sabine had changed in a way that Ezra couldn't quite place his finger on. She was more prone to emotions, both positive an negative. He first discovered this when he accidentally left a plate in the common room of the tower. He'd lived to regret the misdeed, barely. Later that same day, she'd been strangely affectionate when he'd given her a simple compliment.

And then there was her change in the Force. Ezra was long used to how Sabine's presence felt through the Force, but now it was  _different_  somehow. He thought it was improved, more radiant, more... something. Perhaps it felt more complete. Maybe this was a side effect of her being home at last, or maybe it was something else entirely. He couldn't put his finger on it, and he wasn't quite ready to bring it up with Sabine.

Ezra's other concern was that one night they had an intruder in the tower. He had felt the presence and awoke in an instant, but, by the time he had taken the turbolift to ground level, whoever had been there was gone. Sabine was mostly annoyed by the whole ordeal because she had had to reconfigure the tower's security doors. Ezra only shook his head. "I can't believe you're not more upset than this. Someone was trespassing on the bottom level."

Sabine merely shrugged. "What are they going to do to a Jedi and a Mandalorian? Seriously, I'd like to see someone try to break in and do us harm. It would almost be fun." Ezra let it go for the time because she did have a point. Still, the safety of his wife was on the line, and he wasn't going to forget about the incident so easily.

A couple of days later Ezra made a short supply run to Capitol City. It turned out that these runs were far more domestic than they used to be: less blaster power packs, explosives, and ship parts, and more household items and groceries. "I've been thoroughly domesticated," Ezra laughed to himself as he picked through jogun fruit at the market. After insisting that he pay for his produce for the third time in a month, Ezra moved on to the next stall. Everyone wanted to give the Hero of Lothal free stuff, and it was starting to get a little tiring.

At the last stop, he found a vendor selling small bars of imported chocolate. Ezra felt the handful of credits in his pouch. He had more than enough, but he knew Sabine would complain about him spending more than he should on a treat. But she  _would_  eat the chocolate. Ezra stared at the Chocolate for a minute and then got an idea and pulled out his comm.

"Hey, Sabine? We have plans for tonight?" he asked her when she answered.

"No, What's up?"

He smiled a simple boyish smile. "I was just thinking. You owe me one, and I think it's time you paid up."

The comm was quiet for a minute. "Ezra, I don't know what you're talking about."

Ezra stared at the comm, a little disappointed. Very well he'd have to spell it out. "Look, you made me a promise a  _long_  time ago. We free Lothal; we go on a date to a certain cafe in Town 12." The comm was still quiet. Okay, this was getting weird. He was expecting her to think this was a great idea, but then again he'd had trouble predicting just how she'd react to things lately. "You uh... You okay?"

Suddenly Sabine answered a little too forcefully. "No, I'm fine! That's... That's a great idea, actually. It'll be fun. Feel like old times."

"Right..." Ezra said, not even close to convinced. "Listen, Sabine, are you okay? If we need to pick a different day then..."

"No no. This is good. I'll be ready when you get home."

"Mmmhmm, look I'll be home soon; I was just finishing up in the market." He paused briefly, "Sabine, I want this to be fun, so if you're not up to it today I'd..."

There was an exasperated grunt from the comm. "Ezra, I said I'm fine with it, and I mean it."

Ezra laughed, determined to make the best of the day in spite of Sabine's obvious moodiness. "Okay whatever, look this will be fun. It'll be just like we were kids again."

"Right," Sabine said hollowly. "Kids."

* * *

A little while later Sabine met him at the base of their tower. She was leaning against the door, the wind blowing her purple hair. Ezra had been expecting her to change it now that they were back, but for some reason, she hadn't gotten around to it yet. "Hey, Mando-girl," he said playfully, still trying to get a judge on her mood. He decoupled the crate from the speeder bike, filled mostly with food, and pushed it towards the door.

"Hey Loth-rat," she said smiling. He breathed a quick sigh of relief. That was a real smile; this was going to be fun after all. "I do owe you a date, I guess, but Ezra surely this is a little silly. We're past our first anniversary."

"Yes it's  _very silly_ ," he said in as serious a tone as he could manage. Sabine helped him push the crate into the lift. "But when have we ever taken ourselves seriously. Besides, think of the nostalgia that's coming. That was like twelve years ago. We can laugh about how you used to think I was an annoying pest but were secretly falling in love with me the whole time." Ezra favored her with his best smug grin.

Sabine mashed the lift button and crossed her arms as the door shut. "Ezra. You  _were_  an annoying pest."

"...that you were falling in love with," Ezra said as if finishing her sentence.

Sabine laughed. "At the time of that not-date? No. Not even a little, don't even try to flatter yourself."

Ezra shrugged dramatically. "Suit yourself; someday you'll admit the truth."

The door of the lift opened, and they pushed the crate into their home and began to unload it. "By the way, I chased Hondo off a little while ago."

Ezra stopped abruptly, "Wait, Hondo was here?"

"Yeah, it was right after you commed. He wanted to see you, but I told him we had plans and to come back tomorrow." Sabine was inspecting the jogun's that Ezra had picked. In spite of the fact that she did very little of the cooking, she was still incredibly picky about the produce Ezra purchased at the market. Last week he'd gotten in trouble for not doing a thorough enough job inspecting them.

Ezra came and took the jogun out of her hand and put it back in the bag. "That's not necessary," he said taking the bag from her. "I'm a little sad you chased him off. I haven't had a chance to see Hondo since... Well since the Battle of Lothal. I'm kinda surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed or thrown in prison yet."

Sabine sighed. Ezra knew that she never had the patience for Hondo. "Look, Ezra, you can pal around with your pirate friend tomorrow. He said we'd see him again soon. Date. Remeber?"

"Yeah, I know, I know," Ezra said, still a little disappointed. "You didn't ask what he wanted, did you? Hondo  _always_ wants something when he shows up."

"Nope. Don't know, don't care." Sabine put the last of the groceries away. "Give me a minute to go change into my armor. If we're going to make this like the old days, I'm at least going to dress up. You should go put on an orange shirt, too since that's what you wore back then. Oh, wait. You  _always_ wear orange. You never  _don't_  wear orange."

Ezra laughed. That was the one battle that he didn't let his beautiful wife win. He'd cross the galaxy for her, but some things just didn't change. Not even for Sabine Wren.

* * *

A few hours later they were sitting in the booth in the cafe.  _Their_ booth, as Sabine had called it sitting down. Ezra chuckled; that day was so etched in his memory that it felt almost surreal to be back here now. "If only we still had that Tie Fighter to go paint. Pity we never got to finish it, and it was taken away from us."

Sabine leaned on her elbow as she glanced at the menu. "Yeah, I'm still a little bitter over that. That thing was a kriffing work of art. Oh hey, that amazing Lothalian stew is on the menu. Peppradown Stew. Is that the one? I've heard that it's really hard to make."

Ezra shrugged. "I think it's more of a patience thing; when Mom used to make it, she'd have to work on it all day."

"It's  _really_  good though," Sabine said thoughtfully. "I wonder if it's worth learning to make... Tahreen would probably give me the recipe."

"Who's that?" Ezra asked absently, "I may get the stew too, now that you've got me thinking about it."

"Tahreen is the wife of the owner of this place. She was our waitress back in the day." Sabine suddenly looked a little sheepish. "I might have come here a few times while you were gone."

"Oh, you never told me that." He laughed. "Guess you went on the date without me?"

Sabine frowned at Ezra. "Look, sometimes I had trouble believing you were coming back, and I had a promise to keep, so I came just in case... I was also probably feeling a bit down. I don't know; maybe I was trying to cheer myself up."

"How did that work out?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I cried in public."

"You. You cried in public?" Ezra asked, incredulous.

Sabine made a small shrug. "Not my finest hour."

"I... I'm not sure I can even imagine that to be honest," Ezra said looking at his wife.

"It was pretty horrifying, but I ended up gaining a friend out of that ordeal."

Ezra was saved from having to reply to that when a Quarren waitress stepped up to the table. "I don't believe my eyes, but it's Ezra Bridger, home at last."

"Ezra this is Tahreen," Sabine said simply. She's, uh, the friend I made that day."

Ezra stood and extended a hand to the woman, who surprised him by pulling him into a hug. "Oh, I saw you were home on the holo-news! I've heard so much about you from Sabine."

Ezra laughed awkwardly as Tahreen released him. "I'm glad to see you again too. Sabine says you were our waitress all those years ago."

"I was, and I'm  _so_ very happy that Sabine came around to see your way of thinking! It certainly took her long enough didn't it?" Sabine's mouth dropped open, and she frowned a little. "But if this is the fabled date finally happening, I'll get out of your way and just be your waitress today. We'll have you two over sometime soon Sabine."

Sabine smiled broadly, "I'd like that. It's been a long time. Tahreen, I'll have the Peppradown Stew."

"And, uhh, I guess I'll have the same," Ezra said sitting down.

Tahreen tapped the order into her datapad. "Choco-cafs?"

Ezra shook his head. "Just a glass of water for me."

"Same," Sabine said, her voice casual.

Ezra and Tahreen both turn and look at Sabine. "Wait, why not?" Ezra asked. "It has to have been ages since you've had one."

Sabine looked down at the table, and Ezra noticed her face blushing very slightly. "You're not wrong, but I don't know; I was thinking I might need to start cutting back on the caffeine. You understand." Ezra didn't understand, but apparently, Tahreen did. The other woman suddenly smiled, nodded, and left them.

Ezra continued to scrutinize Sabine for a moment. "So what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Sabine said looking at her hand.

"The caffeine thing. Since when have you ever worried about how much caffeine you had?"

Sabine shrugged her shoulders in a single lazy motion. "Look we're not kids anymore. It can't hurt to pay more attention to those sorts of things.."

There was more to it than this, Ezra was certain, but he also knew he wasn't going to do anything but annoy Sabine if he pushed her on the subject. "So back to the Tie Fighter," Ezra said.

Sabine stared at him blankly. "What?"

"The Tie Fighter we never finished. What if I found you another one to paint? There's got to be tens of thousands of those things still lurking around the galaxy, and there's no way they've all been scrapped. So let's get one and paint it." Ezra was pretty proud of his idea until Sabine frowned.

"That's kind of dumb," Sabine said shortly.

The smile disappeared from Ezra's face. "What? Why?"

"Because it's a Tie Fighter and the Empire doesn't exist anymore. We were painting it to disrespect the Empire. Seems like it would be a waste of time now. And where are we going to put it, leave it parked outside the tower?"

"Yes... or..." Ezra hesitated, dumbstruck; he thought Sabine would have loved the idea. "I just wanted the chance to paint it with you; I was thinking more about the fun we'd have than what we'd do with it afterward..."

Sabine softened, and her cheeks tinged a little pink. "Sorry I... Look it's fine. I've just had other things on my mind besides art today. See if you can find us a Tie. I bet I can find a collector who would buy it. I haven't had new art on the market for a while; someone will buy it off our hands."

And there was another one of those weird mood swings, Ezra thought to himself. It might be time they had a talk about what was going on with these mood... Tahreen returned with their stews and drinks as well as a large hunk of a hot crusty bread. Ezra took a deep breath and inhaled the savory aroma of the stew. It reminded him of being a kid, his mother, and his home. "Sabine if you want to learn to cook this, you would make me a happy man."

She shrugged and tasted a spoonful of the thick soupy broth. Her eyes opened wide, and she smiled. "Okay, this may be worth the effort. I'll look into it. It wouldn't hurt for me to do  _some_ of the cooking."

They had happily begun to eat their stew when Sabine suddenly stiffened and stared over Ezra's shoulder. "Umm..." Ezra said setting down his spoon. "Do I want to turn around...?"

"Well, I never expected this... Ezra my friend...! My favorite Jedi! I absolutely  _never_  expected that when I came into this unassuming cafe that I would see  _just_ the man I wanted to see!"

Ezra's eyes went wide. Hondo Onaka.

"Yes, yes... I know you recognize the  _sweet_  sound of your old pal Hondo's voice," the Weequay pirate said, suddenly sitting down in the booth beside Sabine. He sniffed loudly and continued. " _BUT._ I am here, and Bridger,  _Ezra Bridger,_  I need to talk to  _you,_  because I have a  _deal_ for you today." Hondo paused suddenly and glanced at Sabine. He leaned forward, shielded his mouth with his hand as if to keep Sabine from hearing him, and then spoke loud enough for the entire cafe to hear. "You know I'm not sure that Mandalorian woman really wanted me to see you today, and I can't  _possibly_ come up with a single reason why that would be the case. After all the years and all we've been through..."

"Hondo," Ezra interrupted. "You should uh... probably move away from Sabine."

Hondo froze. His eyes darted to Sabine as if suddenly realizing he was being eyed by a dangerous predator. Abruptly he stood, straightened his tunic, and then moved to the other side of the booth to sit by Ezra. "You see Ezra;  _this_ is why I like you. You think about other people and not just yourself. It's almost like you actually believe some of the  _crazy_ things the Jedi used to preach.  _I_ was in mortal danger, sitting by the armored lady, and  _you_ saved my life, and  _not_ for the last time today, might I add."

"Wait a minute, what's that supposed to mean...?" Sabine asked with narrow eyes.

"Oh nothing, nothing, it means mostly nothing to warriors like you, and I shall explain it all later to you fine people. Probably."

Ezra put a hand on his shoulder "Hondo, I have no clue what that means, and look, we were kind of on a date when you just showed up out of nowhere and... Maybe you should stop by tomorrow, and I'll give you all the time you need."

"You are on a  _date_?" Hondo said, suddenly smiling. "With the Mandalorian!? Why Ezra Bridger, I am so proud of you. So very  _very_ proud of you my boy! After that one time, you poured out your little heart to me about the deadly and beautiful Mandalorian Lady who wouldn't so much as glance in your direction... I am sure you must have heeded my advice. Yes, what is happening here is surely because of the good advice your old pal Hondo gave you..." he started counting. "Long ago, long ago... I, uhh... Guess it took some time to set to work and...

"Hondo." Sabine cut him off. He shut up immediately. "Ezra is my husband, and I assure you it has nothing to do with any advice you gave him." Hondo began to light up as if he were about to say something when Sabine cut him off again. "No. You can congratulate him tomorrow. You're going to turn and walk out of that door right now before I get very angry."

Hondo had a sad look on his face, looked sidelong at Ezra and whispered "Congratulations," and looked back at Sabine as if to judge her reaction. She merely raised an eyebrow threateningly. Hondo took off his hat, gave it a good fluff and sat it back on his head. "Very well friends. I shall return tomorrow, but I regret to inform you that I will be dead by then, so that will be rather difficult, even for Hondo."

Sabine reached across the table and grabbed Hondo by his collar and pulled him towards her threateningly. "Talk, Hondo. Why are you here?"

"Aughh!" he said, with a gasp. "It seems that I have made a few rather unscrupulous business partners, and it seems that for some reason, that I assure you I had absolutely nothing to do with... They want old Hondo dead."

Sabine shoved Hondo back into the booth. "Har-chaak, Hondo we talked about this last time you came to Lothal. Lothal is  _my_ territory, and I don't want you dragging your third rate petty crimes here. The only reason I haven't had you locked away is because Ezra, for some bizarre reason, happens to like you."

"Yes, yes and that is why I came to you two, the only friends Hondo has left in the Galaxy. Besides Melch of course, he's standing watch outside the cafe for Hondo. But YES! My only friends, and very talented dangerous ones that can protect me from the Black Sun thugs on my tail..."

Sabine just stared at Hondo. She looked at Ezra, who shrugged, and then back at Hondo, who smiled and waved at her. Sabine closed her eyes and managed to spit words out from between her clenched jaws. "I spent two years convincing the Black Sun that Lothal wasn't worth the trouble. Two. Whole. Years. And you just led them back here?  _During our date?!"_

Hondo opened his mouth as if he was about to protest, then froze. He shrugged, nodded and said, "Yes, that seems to be what happened."

Ezra took a spoonful of his stew thoughtfully. Sabine gave him an eye and frowned. "Look, Hondo," Ezra said carefully and pointed at a booth across the room. "Go sit over there. Don't say anything. Just let us finish, and we'll talk in a little bit. I really don't want Sabine to hurt you, and you're dangerously close to that edge."

Hondo sulked and stood. "Very well, I shall do as the Bridger Boy asks. But I should warn you that..."

"Hondo," Ezra said simply.

"Right..." he said retreating to the other side of the room.

Ezra looked back at Sabine who was glaring intently at him. "You know this isn't in any way my fault right?"

"Yes it is; you befriended that scoundrel all those years ago, and he  _always_  brings trouble with him."

"Sabine," Ezra cocking his head. "Come on. Be reasonable. I'm sorry he's here now. I'm sorry he kind of ruined the date. Let's just finish eating and get out of here. We'll come back another time."

She let out a sigh, deflated, and quietly went back to her stew. They finished their meal mostly in silence. The few attempts at small talk fell flat, and Ezra sighed, annoyed with Hondo for ruining a happy day. He glanced over his shoulder; the pirate was sitting in his booth nursing a drink quietly. At least he was doing what he was told to do now. Ezra pushed the rest of his Peppradown stew away, his appetite gone.

"Not going to finish that?" Sabine asked. When Ezra shook his head, she glanced at it and then pulled the bowl to herself and continued on it. Ezra raised an eyebrow. Not only had she finished her bowl, but apparently she was working on his too. She sure was hungry today...

"Oh, my friends!" Hondo said suddenly from across the room.

"Not right now, Hondo," Ezra said dismissively.

"No, no I think you'll want to hear this. Melch just signaled me, and it seems my unscrupulous friends are here."

Ezra felt the danger a moment before it hit reaching out with the Force he grabbed several tables and upended them to make defensive barricades between the door and the dining area. "Get down!" He must have shouted very convincingly because the handful of other customers in the cafe and Hondo obeyed. With a shriek, the front door was blown off its hinges. Ezra caught the door and gently laid it aside before it had a chance to hurt anyone. Four heavily armed and armored thugs walked into cafe followed by...

Sabine gasped. "You have got to be kidding me... Katon Ul'zimit."

"What?" Era whispered fiercely.

"A Black Sun Strongarm. You don't want to know." She stood. "Ul'zimit. I thought I made it clear that your syndicate wasn't welcome here on Lothal. You're putting yourself and the lives of your men in very real danger by coming here."

Ul'zimit, a green scaled Faleen, suddenly turned to look at the Mandalorian woman challenging him. Shock registered briefly on his face. Sabine was apparently the last person he expected to see today. He bowed his head respectfully. "You'll have to forgive me, Lady Wren, but I am here for the pirate. We will take him and be offworld again as soon as possible."

Hondo opened his mouth to say something, but Sabine shook her head. "Shut up, Hondo. Look Ul'zimit; I can't let you do that. For some reason I've never understood, my husband actually likes Hondo. I'm going to have to ask you to leave disappointed." She rested both hands on her blasters in a silent threat.

Hondo tried to speak again, but the Faleen shook his head. "Shut up, Hondo." Ul'zimit looked back at Sabine. "After what he said to my daughter, I'm afraid that's not possible..." Every head in the room slowly panned to look at the pirate, who smiled and waved.

Ezra sighed. "Hondo has anyone ever told you that you're an idiot?"

"Possibly. Maybe once or twice. I haven't been counting, to be honest, but I know at least Melch has told me that..."

"Shut up, Hondo," Sabine said. "Ul'zimit I'm going to send the innocents out the back. You're going to let them go."

"I have no quarrel with the people of Lothal."

Sabine gestured to the back, and the handful of the other customers scurried out. "Well," Hondo said with a smile, "I guess that means I'll just be going too..."

The Black Sun thugs suddenly opened fire at Hondo and Ezra had to use the Force to throw the pirate into cover. Ezra ignited his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and moved towards the center of the room, confident he could block the bolts from the small handful of blasters. He couldn't believe Hondo had gotten them into this ridiculous situation; they were going to have  _serious_  words after this was over. A few of the thugs fired a handful of shots at Ezra, and he directed them back at their feet, hoping they would get the message. He'd prefer not to leave a trail of bodies in the cafe if he could help it. The thugs and Black Sun Strongarm scattered to cover themselves and prepared for a standoff. Ezra glanced at Sabine and suddenly realized that she was afraid. Sabine was as deep into cover as she could be and showed no signs of moving out to provide the cover fire that he had been expecting.

Time seemed to slow to a halt as Ezra reached towards her with the Force. There was no doubt she was terrified, but not for herself. She was afraid for... Her hand reached to her abdomen, and Ezra finally understood. He understood the mood swings. He understood why she was cutting back on caffeine, why she was hungry enough to finish his stew. He even understood why she felt so different in the Force. Stretching out his sense toward her, now knowing what he was looking for, it was now plain as day. He could feel both of them in the Force: Sabine and their unborn child.

Sabine saw his glance and nodded once, the corners of her mouth turning upward in a smile and her shoulders moving to shrug. Ezra made up his mind right then and there to end this immediately, and he would use overwhelming force if he had to.

Ezra moved without warning. Gesturing with his off hand, he threw the thugs to the ceiling, hard enough that he was pretty sure he broke a few bones. Then he made a pulling motion with his hand and every Black Sun blaster, as well as Hondo's, flew towards him. In one stroke, he sliced all six weapons neatly in half. Ezra continued walking towards Ul'zimit, keeping the thugs pressed hard to the ceiling. The Jedi pointed his saber at the Strongarm. To his credit, the Black Sun leader didn't flinch and only smiled.

"It seems the legends about the Jedi are true. Very impressive, Jedi."

"Not interested in hearing your flattery," Ezra said shortly. "Only interested in you leaving and never coming back. I'd really rather not kill anyone today."

"I understand, Master Jedi. But for the honor of my daughter I cannot leave here without Onaka," the Faleen said stoically.

Ezra shook his head. "That's not happening either. Hondo may be an idiot, but he is my friend." He looked back and forth to where Hondo was cowering in cover and then back to the Black Sun Strongarm. "What did... What did Hondo say to your daughter?" Ezra asked, curious.

The Faleen glared at the Weequay. "He called my beautiful daughter a  _bloated scaley Hutt_."

Ezra furrowed his brow. "Wait, that's it? I mean that's pretty harsh but... What if he just apologized, and then you never saw him again? You know, so no one has to  _die_  today."

Ul'zimit looked at his guards still pressed to the ceiling than at the lightsaber pointed at his face. He was quiet for a long minute, and Ezra assumed he was weighing his options. "As a businessman I know to accept the best deal I will be offered. Very well. In the interest of no one dying today, I will accept an apology."

Ezra turned to Hondo. "Alright, you hear that Hondo? You're going to make nice with the crime boss here, and then you get to live."

Hondo stood up from his cover and carefully walked toward the Faleen. "You, my friend, are a  _very_ lucky lizard man because Hondo Onaka  _only_  apologizes to people he considers the dearest of friends."

"Hondo," Ezra said softly.

"Ah! Yes, yes, of course." He cleared his nose and sniffed loudly. "I am sorry that I called your daughter a  _bloated scaley Hutt_ , and I promise that I shall...!"

"That's enough," Ezra said. "Please just... Don't say anything else." He looked at Ul'zimit. I think that's the best you're going to get. Either you accept it and leave, or this gets messy.

The green scaled reptilian looked at Hondo and made a gesture of disgust. "Fine. If I ever see his face again, though, I'll let my daughter kill him herself."

Ezra nodded. "That's fair. I'm okay with that. Got that Hondo?"

The washed-up pirate sulked a little. "Fine, fine, we will dissolve our illustrious partnership here and now." He may not have been wise enough to completely hold his tongue, but he was wise enough to retreat to the far end of the room away from the Black Sun Strongarm

Ezra lowered the thugs to the floor. "Leave. We're through here."

Ul'zimit bowed. "And so we are." He turned to Sabine who had come out of cover. "Lady Wren I apologize for intruding upon your territory. It will not happen again." Sabine didn't answer and merely glared turbolasers at him. The Black Sun contingent left the cafe, and it was quiet. Tables and chairs were overturned, food and drink spilled everywhere, and a handful of blaster marks still smoldered. Ezra had even damaged the ceiling where he had smashed the thugs.

"Weeeellll!" Hondo said loudly "I'm just going to wait around here for a few minutes and then I'll go remove that tracker from your speeder..."

Sabine turned on Hondo. "Wait, is that how you followed us here?"

"Of course! What else do you think I had Melch do when he broke into your tower the other night. I couldn't risk you two being too far away from old Hondo when the Black Sun came for me, now could I?"

"Hondo," Sabine said severely. "Go sit over there and do not speak to me again today."

Hondo raised a finger as if to say something and then for the first time in his life thought better of it. He turned and walked across the trashed cafe and sat in a chair tapping his fingers together and humming to himself.

Sabine stood silently staring at the wreckage; her hands rested gently on her abdomen. Ezra walked to her and wrapped her in the tightest hug he had ever given her, ten thousand thoughts going through his mind. Suddenly he started laughing and lifted her up and spun her around. "Sabine, this is amazing! I... I'm..."

"You're going to be a father," she whispered, a small smile on her face. "I just found out this morning, and I was going to tell you today, but then..." She gestured around her. Ezra laughed again. "What's so funny?" Sabine said, frowning slightly.

"You know for the last couple weeks I've been contemplating what a normal life would look like. I think I've just realized, though, that we will  _never_  have a normal life, Sabine. I mean... This was our first date. And just... wow."

Sabine pulled Ezra close again. "You know we're going to have to pay for all this right? I can't just destroy my friend's cafe and act as if nothing happened."

Ezra looked sad for a moment, then brightened up. "Don't care. Gonna be a daddy," he said kissing Sabine right then and there.

"Ughh, stop,  _stop!"_  Sabine said trying to untangle herself from her husband. "No public displays of affection. No, I'm serious get back; I will let you kiss me more later. I have to go find Tahreen, this... This is a bit of a disaster."

"You think she's regretting us coming here on a date yet?" Ezra winked wryly.

"I know I am. I can't believe of all days for Hondo to show up..."

" _Speaking_  of Hondo!" Hondo said suddenly at their side, "Yes, yes I know I was supposed to be over in my corner.  _But!_  I couldn't help but overhear the glorious news that there will be little Jedi Mandalorian children... People soon, and  _oh_  I am so excited." He put an arm around the couple. "Did you know that believe it or not, and I know that some people have difficulty believing this next bit..." He sniffed loudly and chuckled. "That  _I,_  Hondo Onaka, the legendary pirate, actually  _like_ children?! I know! I know. I wouldn't believe it myself if I wasn't, well,  _me_. But it's true. And I absolutely insist that the little Jedi Mando person coming along call me...  _Uncle Hondo!"_  He flourished his arms expressively as if he had just said something profound.

Sabine looked at Ezra, then looked at Hondo. "No." She turned and walked away, probably to find Tahreen and apologize.

Ezra laughed and rubbed the beard at his chin. He couldn't stop smiling right now if he wanted to. He looked over at Hondo and said something he knew he'd regret later. "I'm sure Uncle Hondo will be fine. Sabine won't mind."

Hondo laughed. "Ohhh ho ho, Bridger, you play with fire. And I love it. Very well, very well I shall be Uncle Hondo."

"I'm a dead man," Ezra said simply, clapping Hondo on the back. "A happy dead man. But a dead man none-the-less."

* * *

Jacen laughs. "I'm through. I should have known better. Of course, your first real date was a disaster. And Uncle Hondo showing up? That's almost too much for me to believe. That really happened?"

Ezra nods. "Every word was true."

"Also, allow me to remind you that there  _is_  no Uncle Hondo," Hera reminds her son severely. Try as she might she could never put a stop to that ridiculous title being associated with Hondo.

Mira laughs. "Uncle Hondo is the best!"

Sabine gives her oldest a look. Mira looks at Ezra, and the two share a laugh. Both Sabine and Hera give Ezra a withering glare but he doesn't care; he knows that he won this battle long ago and  _Uncle Hondo_ was here to stay.

Jacen rolls his eyes at his family. "Well it was fun, but I don't think I learned much for my date tomorrow."

"Oh?" Sabine says, "I'd thought you were paying attention better than that."

Hera looks at her son as he glances at Sabine, not sure if she's serious. "Well," he finally says thoughtfully, "I guess maybe I could pull a couple things out of all that."

"Enlighten us then," Hera says, curious as to what Jacen could have gleaned from an evening of family history.

Jacen is quiet for a minute and then says, "Trust. It was all built on trust. Ezra built the strongest friendship he could with Sabine. And when it mattered, the trust they had in each other was enough for them to hold on and make it through the hard times."

Hera raises an eyebrow, impressed. "Well, I think that's probably a little much for a first date, but that's pretty solid long-term advice."

Jacen laughs. "Yeah don't make me get too sappy. I still can't believe you guys kept this going for so many hours, only to have it end with a story of you two destroying a cafe with Hondo." Hera noticed he avoided the  _Uncle_ title, for now, probably to avoid being scolded again. "Well played guys. Well played."

Sabine stands and walks to her nephew to hug him. "Anytime for you, kiddo." She ruffles his green hair. "We weird-haired family members have to look out for each other, you know."

Jacen laughs and rolls his eyes but hugs his aunt back. "Yeah... that's how that works, Sabine. Thanks though. It was fun." He chuckles again as he steps back.

"What?" Sabine asks, confused.

"Oh, just thinking. I'll try not to destroy the restaurant on my first date like you guys did..."

Sabine smirks. "I think that would be for the best."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had as much fun with this as I did! At one point did you figure out that Sabine was pregnant? I discovered that women tend to figure out a lot sooner than the guys! XD
> 
> Thanks for reading, and remember to check back tomorrow for the Epilogue!


	8. Epilogue

Celesta laughs as Jacen lands the punchline to the story perfectly. He smiles, pleased with himself. It's been a good evening so far, and he's sure it can only go up from here. Heeding Sabine's advice, he has taken Celesta to the mid-priced Alderaanian restaurant in Capitol City. Of course even mid-priced is still slightly out of his budget, but he's willing to splurge a little on a first date. Especially if it's with Celesta.

He'd been working up the courage for months to ask her on the date, and part of him couldn't believe she'd agreed to it. After a childhood of being bullied over his strange looks and green hair, sometimes it's hard to have the confidence his mother insists he should have. He's glad he listened. Tonight has been amazing.

"Honestly, if Instructor Pala just followed her own advice, none of you would have been in that ridiculous situation," Celesta says thoughtfully.

"You're telling me." Jacen agrees, nodding. "You should have seen what was left of the intake manifolds after the system flush finished. It looked like someone had taken a plasma torch to the whole assembly." He looks down at his Aldera Crown Cake and cuts another piece off with his fork. He'd looked at the whole menu, but couldn't resist trying the Crown Cake after last nights family history lecture from his aunt.

Jacen absently notices a droid come by and refill his empty drink. "Anyway, I think the whole incident terrified half the first years. I doubt they'll be rushing to enroll with Instructor Pala again anytime soon."

"I imagine not," Celesta says. "Did you see that droid? Seemed like a really old model for such a new restaurant."

Jacen glances around but doesn't see the droid. "No, I didn't notice, sorry."

"Yeah, it was weird. I think it was an old Clone Wars model astromech."

"You don't say?" Jacen mumbles, a cold pit of fear settling in his stomach. There was no way it was him. It just wasn't possible.

"No doubt. My grandfather still has a working one. I forget the exact model, but it had a notoriously bad personality. I think something was wrong with the whole line. I don't know; maybe this one is the owner's personal droid or something. I can't imagine anyone letting it work at a restaurant otherwise." Celesta goes back to eating. But Jacen can't stop thinking about the droid. Part of his rational mind knows how slim the odds that the droid was Chopper, but he also knows Chopper too well to discount the possibility completely. After the story he heard last night about Chopper ruining a date...

"Whu whumpa whom. Wuwah."

Jacen freezes. Chopper is beside the table holding a tray with a desert, some moist cake with nuts and a creamy fruit sauce. The surly droid carefully places the dessert tray on the table between the couple. Jacen realizes he's sweating blaster bolts as he eyes his mother's droid. What could this greasy rust bucket possibly be...

"What did it say?" Celesta asks with a raised eyebrow.

Jacen wipes his brow and scratches the green hair at the side of his head. "He, uh... Says that dessert is compliments of the owner." Not that that made any sense. How Chopper had stolen this from the kitchen without being seen was something Jacen wasn't even going to try and guess. This was going to be hard to explain to the waiter. Unless he's in on it too. Jacen is suddenly afraid that there is a larger conspiracy at work. Does his mother know Chopper is here? Does Ezra? And Sabine  _had_  recommended the restaurant...

Celesta smiles sweetly, "Well this is a nice surprise. Will you thank the owner for us, droid?"

"Whu whump whuma. Whumma wump." Chopper says and turns to leave.

_"I'm watching you, Jacen._ _I'm always watching."_

It takes everything in Jacen's power not to panic. All he can think about is poor Wedge.

"What did it say?" Celesta asks again.

Jacen watches as Chopper rolled away, and hopes that the droid doesn't have anything else planned. He considers telling her the easy lie that Chopper said to enjoy the dessert but knows that she might meet the droid again someday and recognize him. He lets out a long, slow sigh. "Look Celesta, just in case something else happens, I should probably warn you about my family..."

**_The End_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this piece! I loved writing it and am very pleased with the results!  
> Thanks for taking the time to read it!


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